Method for sending and determining timing information, apparatus, storage medium, and processor

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for transmitting and determining timing information, a storage medium, and a processor. The transmitting method includes: carrying timing information by using a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), where the timing information is used to indicate a terminal to determine a time domain location; and transmitting the DMRS carrying the timing information to the terminal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 asa continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.16/714,093, filed on Dec. 13, 2019, which is a continuation of PCTPatent Application No. PCT/CN2018/089791, filed on Jun. 4, 2018, whichclaims priority to Chinese patent application No. 201710459642.1, filedon Jun. 16, 2017, the content of each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and inparticular to a method and apparatus for transmitting and determiningtiming information, a storage medium, and a processor.

BACKGROUND

In the current standard discussion, a physical broadcast channel (PBCH)is recommended to indicate timing information. Specifically, implicitindication by PBCH is a potential method, that is, a different PBCHprocessing manner (for example, redundancy version (RV), scramblingcode, cyclic redundancy check mask (CRC mask)) is used in a differentsynchronization signal block (SS block) to imply index information ofthe SS block.

In a high frequency band, it is necessary to consider supporting up to64 or more SS blocks, and this means that if the above information isimplicitly carried by a PBCH alone, on the one hand, it may not bepossible to imply so much index information (for example, in the mannerof indicating different SS block indexes by using different RVs, 40 bitsof PBCH are typically used as an example, different cyclic shiftscorrespond to different RVs, and in the case where a cyclic shiftinterval is 1, there are at most 40 different cyclic shifts, which isunable to meet indication requirements of 64 or more different SS blockindexes); on the other hand, it will bring huge blind detection overheadto a terminal, and 64 or more different configurations need to beattempted to decode the PBCH.

More importantly, when a neighbor cell is measured and reported, theterminal needs to report a measurement result corresponding to an SSblock index. If the index needs to be obtained by decoding the PBCH, theterminal needs to further receive the PBCH on the measured neighborcell, which will bring huge overhead to the terminal.

With the continuous advancement of radio technology, a variety of radioservices have emerged in large quantity, and spectrum resources reliedby the radio services are limited. In the face of people's increasingdemand for bandwidth, spectrum resources between 300 MHz˜3 GHz mainlyused for traditional commercial communication exhibit extremely tightscenario and cannot meet the needs of future wireless communications.

In future wireless communications, communication will be carried outusing a carrier frequency higher than that used in fourth-generation(4G) communication systems, such as 28 GHz, 45 GHz, 70 GHz, etc., andsuch high-frequency channel has disadvantages of large free propagationlosses, easy absorption by oxygen, and great influence from rainattenuation, seriously affecting coverage performance of high-frequencycommunication systems. However, since a carrier frequency correspondingto high-frequency communication has a shorter wavelength, it is possibleto ensure that more antenna elements can be accommodated per unit area,and more antenna elements mean that a beam-forming method may be used toimprove an antenna gain, thereby ensuring the coverage performance ofthe high frequency communication.

After the beam-forming method is adopted, a transmitting end canconcentrate transmitting energy in a certain direction, and energy issmall or absent in other directions, that is, each beam has its owndirectivity, and each beam can only cover a terminal in a certaindirection, and the transmitting end, that is, a base station, needs totransmit a beam in dozens or even hundreds of directions to completefull coverage. In the existing art, measurement and identification of apreliminary beam direction are tend to be performed during an initialaccess of a terminal to a network, and transmit beams at a base stationside are swept once in a time interval for the terminal to measure andidentify a preferred beam or port. FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of asynchronization signal burst set (SS burst set) in the related art. Asshown in FIG. 1 , this structure is a sweeping resource for transmittinga synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel, where the SSburst set includes one or more synchronization signal bursts (SSbursts), one SS burst includes one or more synchronization signal blocks(SS blocks), each SS block carries a synchronization signal in aspecific beam, a specific port or a specific port set, and once the SSburst set completes sweeping of the beam, all beam transmissions or allport transmissions are completed. The SS block may further include aPBCH, a demodulation reference signal corresponding to the PBCH, othercontrol channels, a data channel, and other signals. Since multiple SSblocks are mapped to the same subframe, offsets of different SS blockswith respect to the subframe boundary are different, and terminals atdifferent locations may successfully detect the synchronization signalin any SS block. In order to complete subframe timing, the terminalsneed to know time index information of the SS block currentlysynchronized.

In the current standard discussion, a PBCH is recommended to indicatetiming information. Specifically, implicit indication by PBCH is apotential method, that is, a different PBCH processing manner (forexample, redundancy version (RV), scrambling code, cyclic redundancycheck mask (CRC mask)) is used in a different synchronization signalblock (SS block) to imply index information of the SS block.

In a high frequency band, it is necessary to consider supporting up to64 or more SS blocks, and this means that if the above information isimplicitly carried by a PBCH alone, on the one hand, it may not bepossible to imply so much index information (for example, in the mannerof indicating different SS block indexes by using different RVs, 40 bitsof PBCH are typically used as an example, different cyclic shiftscorrespond to different RVs, and in the case where a cyclic shiftinterval is 1, there are at most 40 different cyclic shifts, which isunable to meet indication requirements of 64 or more different SS blockindexes); on the other hand, it will bring huge blind detection overheadto a terminal, and 64 or more different configurations need to beattempted to decode the PBCH.

More importantly, when a neighbor cell is measured and reported, theterminal needs to report a measurement result corresponding to an SSblock index. If the index needs to be obtained by decoding the PBCH, theterminal needs to further receive the PBCH on the measured neighborcell, which will bring huge overhead to the terminal.

How to reduce an overhead of the above method and reduce a capacityrequirement for indication is a problem that shall be considered in anNR design of wireless access technology.

In view of the above problems, an effective solution has not beenproposed in the related art.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus fortransmitting and determining timing information, a storage medium, and aprocessor, so as to at least solve problems that a terminal has a largeoverhead and a large capacity requirement in the related art.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, provided is amethod for transmitting timing information, including: carrying timinginformation by using a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), where thetiming information is used to indicate a terminal to determine a timedomain location; and transmitting the DMRS carrying the timinginformation to the terminal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, furtherprovided is a method for determining timing information, including:receiving a DMRS transmitted by a base station; and determining timinginformation carried in the DMRS, where the timing information is used toindicate a terminal to determine a time domain location.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, furtherprovided is a method for mapping a coded bit of a physical broadcastchannel (PBCH), including: determining the coded bit of the PBCH; andmapping the coded bit of the PBCH to a resource of the PBCH in apredetermined order.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, furtherprovided is an apparatus for transmitting timing information, including:a carrying module, which is configured to carry timing information byusing a DMRS, where the timing information is used to indicate aterminal to determine a time domain location; and a transmitting module,which is configured to transmit the DMRS carrying the timing informationto the terminal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, furtherprovided is an apparatus for determining timing information, including:a receiving module, configured to receive a DMRS transmitted by a basestation; and a first determining module, configured to determine timinginformation carried in the DMRS, where the timing information is used toindicate a terminal to determine a time domain location.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, furtherprovided is an apparatus for mapping a coded bit of a PBCH, including: asecond determining module, configured to determine the coded bit of thePBCH; and a mapping module configured to map the coded bit of the PBCHto a resource of the PBCH in a predetermined order.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, furtherprovided is a storage medium including a stored program, where theprogram executes the method of any of the above during running.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, furtherprovided is a processor for executing a program, where the programexecutes the method of any of the above during running.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a base stationcarries timing information by using a DMRS, where the timing informationis used to indicate a terminal to determine a time domain location, andthe base station transmits the DMRS carrying the timing information tothe terminal for indicating the terminal to acquire the timinginformation according to the DMRS. Therefore, problems of a largeterminal overhead and a large capacity requirement existing in therelated art could be solved, and effects of cutting down the terminaloverhead and reducing the terminal capacity requirement could beachieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are intended to provide a furtherunderstanding of the present invention, and form a part of the presentapplication. Illustrative embodiments of the present invention anddescription thereof are intended to explain the present invention, anddo not constitute limitation to the present invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a synchronization signal burst set inthe related art;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hardware structure of a mobile terminalaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of transmitting timing information according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining timing informationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for mapping a coded bit of a PBCHaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a multiplexing manner of primary andsecondary synchronization signals and a physical broadcast channelaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a multiplexing manner of asynchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel bandwidthaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a physical broadcast channelaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of mapping a PBCH DMRS sequence on twoPBCH symbols according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram one of a mapping order of a PBCH DMRSsequence according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram two of a mapping sequence of a PBCH DMRSsequence according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram one of a mapping manner of a DMRS on twoPBCH symbols according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram two of a mapping manner of a DMRS on twoPBCH symbols according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a DMRS mapping order combinationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a second DMRS mapping order accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a second DMRS mapping ordercombination according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of SS block mapping according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram one of mapping a PBCH DMRS sequence to aPBCH symbol according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram two of mapping a PBCH DMRS sequence to aPBCH symbol according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram three of mapping a PBCH DMRS sequence toa PBCH symbol according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram four of mapping a PBCH DMRS sequence to aPBCH symbol according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram five of mapping a PBCH DMRS sequence to aPBCH symbol according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of a DMRS sequence using differentorthogonal sequences according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram one of synchronization signal sequencemapping according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram two of synchronization signal sequencemapping according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of DMRS mapping according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26A is a schematic diagram one of a method for indicating timinginformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26B is a schematic diagram two of a method for indicating timinginformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26C is a schematic diagram three of a method for indicating timinginformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26D is a schematic diagram four of a method for indicating timinginformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26E is a schematic diagram five of a method for indicating timinginformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26F is a schematic diagram six of a method for indicating timinginformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 26G is a schematic diagram seven of a method for indicating timinginformation according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram one of mapping a coded bit of a PBCHaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram two of mapping a coded bit of a PBCHaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a structural block diagram of an apparatus for transmittingtiming information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a structural block diagram of an apparatus for determiningtiming information according to an embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 31 is a structural block diagram of an apparatus for mapping acoded bit of a PBCH according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will be illustrated in detail belowwith reference to the drawings. It shall be noted that the embodimentsof the present invention and features in the embodiments may be combinedwith each other without conflict.

It should be noted that terms “first”, “second” and the like in thedescription and claims of the present invention and the above accompanydrawings are used for distinguishing similar objects, but are notnecessarily used for describing a particular order or a precedenceorder.

Method embodiments provided by embodiments of the present applicationmay be implemented in a mobile terminal, a computer terminal, or asimilar computing apparatus. Taking operation on a mobile terminal as anexample, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hardware structure of a mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2 , a mobile terminal 20 may include one or more(merely one is shown in FIG. 2 ) processors 202 (the processor 202 mayinclude, but is not limited to, a processing device such as amicroprogrammed control unit (MCU) or a field programmable gate array(FPGA)), a memory 204 for storing data, and a transmission device 206for communication functions. It will be understood by those skilled inthe art that the structure shown in FIG. 2 is merely illustrative anddoes not limit the structure of the above electronic device. Forexample, the mobile terminal 20 may also include more or fewercomponents than those shown in FIG. 2 , or have a differentconfiguration than that shown in FIG. 2 .

The memory 204 may be used to store software programs and modules of theapplication software, such as program instructions/modules correspondingto a method for transmitting timing information in the embodiment of thepresent invention, and the processor 202 executes various functionalapplications and data processing by executing the software programs andmodules stored in the memory 204, that is, the above method isimplemented. The memory 204 may include a high speed random accessmemory and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as one or moremagnetic storage devices, a flash memory, or other non-volatile solidstate memories. In some examples, the memory 204 may further include amemory remotely located relative to the processor 202, which may beconnected to a mobile terminal 10 over a network. Examples of suchnetworks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, intranets, localarea networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The transmission device 206 is configured to receive or transmit datavia a network. The above specific network example may include a wirelessnetwork provided by a communication provider of the mobile terminal 20.In one example, the transmission device 206 includes a network interfacecontroller (NIC) that may be connected to other network devices througha base station to communicate with the Internet. In one example, thetransmission device 206 may be a radio frequency (RF) module forcommunicating with the Internet wirelessly.

This embodiment provides a method for transmitting timing information.FIG. 3 is a flowchart of transmitting timing information according to anembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , the flowincludes a step S302 and a step S304. In step S302, carrying timinginformation by using a DMRS, where the timing information is used toindicate a terminal to determine a time domain location. In step S304,transmitting the DMRS carrying the timing information to the terminal.

Through the above steps, a base station carries timing information byusing a DMRS, where the timing information is used to indicate aterminal to determine a time domain location; and the DMRS that carriesthe timing information is transmitted to the terminal, and the terminalis indicated to acquire the timing information according to the DMRS.Therefore, problems of a large terminal overhead and a large capacityrequirement existing in the related art could be solved, and effects ofcutting down the terminal overhead and reducing the terminal capacityrequirement could be achieved.

Optionally, an execution body of the above steps may be a base station,but is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, the determination of a time domain location by theterminal may include the determination of at least one of: subframetiming, slot timing, synchronization signal burst timing,synchronization signal burst set timing, half frame timing, radio frametiming, and a system frame number (SFN). Specifically, the subframetiming refers to a terminal determining a subframe boundary according totiming information; the slot timing refers to a terminal determining aslot boundary according to timing information; the synchronizationsignal burst timing refers to a terminal determining a boundary of asynchronization signal burst according to timing information; thesynchronization signal burst set timing refers to a terminal determinesa synchronization signal burst set boundary according to timinginformation; the half frame timing refers to a terminal determining ahalf frame boundary according to timing information, and distinguishingfirst and second half frames; the radio frame timing refers to aterminal determining a radio frame boundary according to timinginformation; the determination of the system frame number refers to aterminal determining a system frame number according to timinginformation.

In other embodiments, the timing information includes at least one of: aserial number of a synchronization signal burst set; a serial number ofa synchronization signal burst in a synchronization signal burst set; aserial number of a slot in a synchronization signal burst; a serialnumber of an SS block in a slot; a serial number of an SS block in asynchronization signal burst set; a serial number of an SS block in asynchronization signal burst; a serial number of a slot in asynchronization signal burst set; a synchronization signal block index;N least significant bits of a synchronization signal block index, whereN is a positive integer; M most significant bits of a synchronizationsignal block index, where M is a positive integer; X middle significantbits of a synchronization signal block index, where X is a positiveinteger; part or all of information of a SFN; radio frame timinginformation; and half frame timing information.

In other embodiments, the carrying the timing information by using theDMRS includes: carrying the timing information by using at least one ofthe following attributes of the DMRS: a DMRS sequence; a mappingresource of the DMRS sequence; and an orthogonal sequence used by theDMRS sequence.

In other embodiments, the DMRS sequence includes one of: DMRS sequencescommonly mapped to two PBCH symbols; and DMRS sequences mapped to twoPBCH symbols respectively. In this embodiment, it is preferable toperform a related operation according to two PBCH symbols, or to performthe above operation according to more than two PBCH symbols. The DMRSsequence includes: DMRS sequences commonly mapped to N physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) symbols, where N is an integer greater than orequal to 2.

In other embodiments, the carrying the timing information by using theDMRS sequence includes one of: presetting a plurality of DMRS sequencesand a correspondence relationship between respective DMRS sequences andvalues of the timing information, and carrying the timing information byusing DMRS sequences commonly mapped to two PBCH symbols; and forming aDMRS sequence combination with DMRS sequences mapped to two PBCHsymbols, presetting a plurality of DMRS sequence combinations and acorrespondence relationship between the respective DMRS sequencecombinations and values of the timing information, and carrying thetiming information by using the DMRS sequence combination mapped to thetwo PBCH symbols respectively. In this embodiment, the preset DMRSsequences and the preset DMRS sequence combinations may be determined inthe following manners: defining a plurality of DMRS sequences bycommonly mapping one DMRS sequence on two PBCH symbols; and mapping oneDMRS sequence on each of two PBCH symbols independently, forming a DMRSsequence combination with DMRS sequences mapped to the two PBCH symbols,and defining a plurality of DMRS sequence combinations.

In other embodiments, carrying the timing information by using a mappingorder of the DMRS sequence includes one of: presetting a plurality ofmapping orders and a correspondence relationship between differentmapping orders and different values of the timing information, andcarrying the timing information by using the mapping orders, where themapping orders refer to orders of mapping DMRS sequences to DMRS timedomain resources and/or frequency domain resources on two PBCH symbols;and presetting a plurality of mapping order combinations and acorrespondence relationship between different mapping order combinationsand values of the timing information, and carrying the timinginformation by using the mapping order combinations, where the mappingorder combinations refer to combinations of orders of mapping DMRSsequences to DMRS time domain resources and/or frequency domainresources on two PBCH symbols respectively. In this embodiment, thepreset mapping orders and the preset DMRS sequence mapping ordercombinations are determined in the following manners: commonly mapping aDMRS sequence to two PBCH symbols, and defining a plurality of orders ofmapping the DMRS sequence to time domain resources and/or frequencydomain resources; and independently mapping one DMRS sequence on each oftwo PBCH symbols, and defining a plurality of orders of mapping the DMRSsequence to time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources of aPBCH symbol.

In other embodiments, carrying the timing information by using theorthogonal sequence used by the DMRS sequence includes: presetting aplurality of orthogonal sequences having lengths correspond to PBCHsymbol numbers, where different orthogonal sequences represent differentvalues of the timing information; and mapping processed DMRS sequencesto DMRS resources of the two PBCH symbols respectively by using thepreset orthogonal sequences, and carrying the timing information byusing the processed DMRS sequences.

In other embodiments, the preset orthogonal sequences include at leastone of: [1, 1]; and [1, −1].

In other embodiments, processing the two DMRS sequences on the two PBCHsymbols by using the preset orthogonal sequences includes one of:multiplying respective elements of a DMRS sequence on a first PBCHsymbol by a first element of the orthogonal sequences, and mapping themultiplying results to a DMRS resource element of the first PBCH symbolrespectively; and multiplying respective elements of a DMRS sequence ona second PBCH symbol by a second element of the orthogonal sequences,and mapping the multiplying results to DMRS resource elements of thesecond PBCH symbol respectively; and multiplying respective elements ofa DMRS sequence on a first PBCH symbol by a first element of a firstorthogonal sequence respectively to obtain a first sequence, multiplyingrespective elements of a DMRS sequence on a second PBCH symbol by asecond element of the first orthogonal sequence to obtain a secondsequence, and adding corresponding elements of the first sequence andthe second sequence respectively, and mapping the adding results to DMRSresource elements of the first PBCH symbol respectively; and multiplyingrespective elements of a DMRS sequence on a second PBCH symbol by afirst element of a second orthogonal sequence to obtain a thirdsequence, multiplying respective elements of a DMRS sequence on a secondPBCH symbol by a second element of the second orthogonal sequence toobtain a fourth sequence, adding corresponding elements of the firstsequence and the second sequence respectively, and mapping the addingresults to DMRS resource elements of the second PBCH symbolrespectively.

In other embodiments, the method further includes: carrying the timinginformation by using an attribute of the DMRS and an attribute of thePBCH.

In other embodiments, the attribute of the PBCH includes at least oneof: bit information carried by the PBCH; a cyclic shift of a coded bitof the PBCH; a scrambling code of the PBCH; and a cyclic redundancycheck mask of the PBCH.

The method further includes: carrying the timing information by using aDMRS sequence and bit information carried by a PBCH. In otherembodiments, carrying the timing information by using the DMRS sequenceand the bit information carried by the PBCH includes: when a number ofcandidate synchronization signal blocks is 64, defining eight differentDMRS sequences for indicating three least significant bits of asynchronization signal block index; and introducing three bits ofexplicit information in PBCH information bits for indicating three mostsignificant bits of a synchronization signal block index.

In other embodiments, the mapping resource of the DMRS sequence includesat least one of: a part of resource elements (REs) in a frequency bandoutside a synchronization signal in a PBCH symbol to which the DMRSsequence is mapped; a part of REs in a PBCH bandwidth in a PBCH symbolto which the DMRS sequence is mapped; and in a part of PBCH symbols, apart of resource elements (REs) in a frequency band outside asynchronization signal to which the DMRS sequence is mapped; and inremaining PBCH symbols, a part of REs in a PBCH bandwidth to which theDMRS sequence is mapped.

This embodiment provides a method for determining timing information.FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for determining timing informationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the flow includes a step S402 and a step S404.

In step S402, receiving a DMRS transmitted by a base station.

In step S404, determining timing information carried in the DMRS, wherethe timing information is used to indicate a terminal to determine atime domain location.

Through the above steps, a terminal acquires timing information from aDMRS by receiving the DMRS transmitted by a base station. Therefore,problems of a large terminal overhead and a large capacity requirementexisting in the related art could be solved, and effects of cutting downthe terminal overhead and reducing the terminal capacity requirementcould be achieved.

Optionally, an execution body of the above steps may be a terminal, butis not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the timing informationincludes at least one of: a serial number of a synchronization signalburst set; a serial number of a synchronization signal burst in asynchronization signal burst set; a serial number of a slot in asynchronization signal burst; a serial number of an SS block in a slot;a serial number of an SS block in a synchronization signal burst set; aserial number of an SS block in a synchronization signal burst; a serialnumber of a slot in a synchronization signal burst set; asynchronization signal block index; N least significant bits of asynchronization signal block index, where N is a positive integer; Mmost significant bits of a synchronization signal block index, where Mis a positive integer; X middle significant bits of a synchronizationsignal block index, where X is a positive integer; part or all ofinformation of a system frame number (SFN); radio frame timinginformation; and half frame timing information.

In other embodiments, determining the timing information carried in theDMRS includes: determining the timing information by using at least oneof the following attributes of the identified DMRS: a DMRS sequence; amapping order of the DMRS sequence; and an orthogonal sequence used bythe DMRS sequence.

In other embodiments, the DMRS sequence includes one of: DMRS sequencescommonly mapped to two PBCH symbols; and DMRS sequences respectivelymapped to two PBCH symbols.

In other embodiments, determining the timing information by using theDMRS sequence includes one of: determining the timing information byusing DMRS sequences commonly mapped to the two PBCH symbols and acorrespondence relationship between preset DMRS sequences and values ofthe timing information; and determining the timing information by usingDMRS sequences respectively mapped to two PBCH symbols and acorrespondence relationship between preset DMRS sequence combinationsand values of the timing information.

In other embodiments, determining the timing information by using themapping order of the DMRS sequence includes one of: determining thetiming information by using mapping orders of DMRS sequences commonlymapped to two PBCH symbols and a correspondence relationship betweenpreset mapping orders of DMRS sequences and values of the timinginformation; and determining the timing information by using mappingorders of DMRS sequences independently mapped to two PBCH symbolsrespectively and a correspondence relationship between preset mappingorder combinations of DMRS sequences on respective PBCH symbols andvalues of the timing information.

In other embodiments, determining the timing information according tothe orthogonal sequence used by the DMRS sequence includes: determiningthe timing information by using orthogonal sequences used by DMRSsequences mapped to two PBCH symbols and a correspondence relationshipbetween preset orthogonal sequences and values of the timinginformation.

In other embodiments, the preset orthogonal sequences include at leastone of: [1, 1]; and [1, −1]. In this embodiment, the two values of thepreset orthogonal sequences are preferred embodiments, and other valuesmay also be included.

This embodiment provides a method for mapping a coded bit of a PBCH.FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for mapping a coded bit of a PBCHaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the flow includes a step S502 and a step S504.

In step S502, determining a coded bit of the PBCH.

In step S504, mapping the coded bit of the PBCH to a resource of thePBCH in a predetermined order.

Through the above steps, after a base station determines a coded bit ofa PBCH, the coded bit of the PBCH is mapped to a resource of the PBCH ina predetermined order to indicate to a terminal implicit timinginformation according to the coded bit of the mapped PBCH. Therefore,problems of a large terminal overhead and a large capacity requirementexisting in the related art could be solved, and effects of cutting downthe terminal overhead and reducing the terminal capacity requirementcould be achieved.

In other embodiments, an execution body of the above steps may be a basestation, but is not limited thereto.

In other embodiments, mapping the coded bit of the PBCH to the resourceof the PBCH in the predetermined order includes: mapping the coded bitof the PBCH to the resource of the PBCH corresponding to asynchronization signal bandwidth; and mapping the coded bit of the PBCHto the resource of the PBCH outside a synchronization signal bandwidth.

In other embodiments, mapping the coded bit of the PBCH to the resourceof the PBCH in the predetermined order includes: mapping the coded bitof the PBCH to the resource of the PBCH corresponding to asynchronization signal bandwidth of which a time domain locationsatisfies a first predetermined condition; mapping the coded bit of thePBCH to the resource of the PBCH outside a synchronization signalbandwidth of which a time domain location satisfies a firstpredetermined condition; mapping the coded bit of the PBCH to theresource of the PBCH corresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidthof which a time domain location satisfies a second predeterminedcondition; and mapping the coded bit of the PBCH to the resource of thePBCH outside a synchronization signal bandwidth of which a time domainlocation satisfies a second predetermined condition.

The present invention will be described in detail below with referenceto embodiments.

Embodiment One

This embodiment provides a method for transmitting timing information,including the following contents:

carrying at least part of timing information by using a physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS).

The timing information includes at least one of: a serial number of asynchronization signal burst set; a serial number of a synchronizationsignal burst in an SS burst set; a serial number of a slot in asynchronization signal burst; a serial number of an SS block in a slot;a serial number of an SS block in an SS burst set; a serial number of anSS block in an SS burst; a serial number of a slot in an SS burst set; Nleast significant bits of an SS block index (N least significant bits ofthe synchronization signal block index); M most significant bits of anSS block index (M most significant bits of the synchronization signalblock index); X middle significant bits of an SS block index (X middlesignificant bits of synchronization signal block index); part or all ofinformation of a system frame number (SFN); radio frame timinginformation; and half frame timing information.

The carrying at least part of timing information by using the physicalbroadcast channel demodulation reference signal includes: indicating thetiming information by using at least one of the following features ofthe DMRS: a DMRS sequence; a mapping manner of the DMRS sequence; and anorthogonal cover code (OCC) used by a DMRS sequence on different PBCHsymbols.

Indicating the timing information by using the mapping manner of theDMRS sequence includes defining a plurality of orders of mapping theDMRS sequence to time and frequency domain resources, where differentmapping orders indicate different values of the timing information.

Indicating the timing information by using the orthogonal cover code(OCC) used by the DMRS sequence on different PBCH symbols includesdefining a plurality of sets of orthogonal cover codes, and processingDMRS sequences on a plurality of PBCH symbols by using the orthogonalcover codes; and indicating different values of the timing informationby using the different orthogonal cover codes.

The sequence may be combined with the physical broadcast channeltransmission manner to indicate a complete synchronization signal index.

The physical broadcast channel transmission manner includes at least oneof: an information bit carried by a physical broadcast channel, a cyclicshift of a physical broadcast channel coded bit, a scrambling code of aphysical broadcast channel, and a CRC mask of a physical broadcastchannel.

Embodiment Two

This embodiment provides a method for mapping a coded bit of a PBCH, andspecifically includes the following contents: mapping a coded bit of aPBCH to a PBCH resource in the following order: first mapping the codedbit of the PBCH to a resource corresponding to a synchronization signalbandwidth in a PBCH symbol; and then mapping the coded bit to a resourceoutside a synchronization signal bandwidth in a PBCH symbol.

For a mapping manner of a PBCH coded bit, the PBCH coded bit is mappedto a PBCH resource in the following order: a part corresponding to asynchronization signal bandwidth of an earlier PBCH symbol in timedomain→a part outside a synchronization signal bandwidth of an earlierPBCH symbol in time domain→a part corresponding to a synchronous signalbandwidth of a later PBCH symbol in time domain→a part outside asynchronization signal bandwidth of a later PBCH symbol in time domain.

One SS burst set contains one or more SS bursts, one synchronizationsignal burst contains one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSblocks), each SS block is used for transmitting information in aspecific beam direction, and full coverage of an expected coverage rangeis completed by a synchronization signal burst set. A primarysynchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal SSS),and a PBCH are included in each synchronization signal block. A case ofcarrying other signal channels within an SS block is not excluded. Asshown in FIG. 6 , possible multiplexing manners of eight primary andsecondary synchronization signals and a physical broadcast channel aregiven. Multiplexing manners 1-4 correspond to cases wheresynchronization signals and a physical broadcast channel have differentbandwidths (typically, a PSS/SSS occupies 144 REs, where REs in whichsynchronization signal sequence elements are mapped are 127 REs therein,and a PBCH occupies 288 RE). Multiplexing manners 5-8 correspond tocases where synchronization signals and a physical broadcast channelhave the same bandwidth (typically, a PSS/SSS/PBCH occupies 144 REs,where REs in which synchronization signal sequence elements are mappedare 127 REs therein). In the following, for a case where synchronizationsignals and a physical broadcast channel have different bandwidths,multiplexing manner 1 is described as an example; for a case wheresynchronization signals and a physical broadcast channel have the samebandwidth, multiplexing manner 5 is described as an example; and othermultiplexing manners are similar thereto.

As shown in FIG. 7 , for a case where synchronization signals and aphysical broadcast channel have different bandwidths, mapping resourcesof a DMRS have the following three types:

-   -   1. the DMRS is merely mapped to a part of REs in a frequency        band other than a bandwidth of a synchronization signal in a        symbol of a PBCH;    -   2. the DMRS is mapped to a part of REs within the entire PBCH        bandwidth in a symbol of a PBCH; and    -   3. in two PBCH symbols, the DMRS is mapped to one PBCH symbol        over a full bandwidth, and the DMRS is mapped to another PBCH        symbol on a bandwidth other than a bandwidth of a        synchronization signal; for example, in a first PBCH symbol, the        DMRS is merely mapped to a part of REs in a frequency band other        than a bandwidth of a synchronization signal; and in a second        PBCH symbol, the DMRS is mapped to a part of REs in the entire        PBCH bandwidth.

For DMRS mapping manner 1, a synchronization signal occupies 144resource elements REs, but resources in which a synchronization signalsequence is actually mapped are 127 REs in the middle, and eight or nineREs are reserved on both sides as guard bands. In this mapping manner, abandwidth of a mapped PBCH DMRS may overlap with a bandwidth of asynchronization signal due to presence of a guard band. For example, fora case where a PBCH occupies 288 REs, a PBCH DMRS may be mapped at acertain density in each of upper and lower 84 REs. This case is alsowithin this mapping manner. It is also possible to map a PBCH DMRS at acertain density within each of upper and lower 72 REs.

For DMRS mapping manner 2, timing information may be indicated by usinga DMRS corresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidth, or timinginformation may be indicated by using a DMRS over the entire PBCHbandwidth. In this DMRS mapping manner, a frequency domain density ofthe DMRS may be different in a synchronization signal bandwidth andoutside a synchronization signal bandwidth. In addition, thesynchronization signal occupies 144 resource elements REs, but resourcesin which synchronization signal sequences are actually mapped are 127REs in the middle, and 8 or 9 REs are reserved on both sides as guardbands. In this mapping manner, a synchronization signal is used forchannel estimation before DMRS detection. Due to presence of a guardband, in order to ensure the reliability of synchronization signalchannel estimation for PBCH DMRS detection, a bandwidth of the mappedPBCH DMRS may be smaller than the synchronization signal bandwidth. Forexample, for a case where a PBCH occupies 288 REs, a PBCH DMRS may bemapped at a certain density in the middle 132 REs (the 132 REs arecompletely covered by the synchronization signal bandwidth). This caseis also within this mapping manner. It is also possible to map the PBCHDMRS at a certain density within the middle 144 REs.

For DMRS mapping manner 3, a DMRS mapped outside a synchronizationsignal bandwidth of a first PBCH symbol uses a fixed sequence, whichfunctions as channel estimation (without carrying timing information); aDMRS mapped to a full bandwidth of a second PBCH symbol is used toindicate an SBI. A DMRS and an SSS on the first PBCH symbol may be usedfor channel estimation, and used for coherently detecting the DMRS onthe second PBCH symbol to improve detection performance of the DMRS,thereby improving performance of timing information indication.Similarly, due to presence of a synchronization signal guard band, theDMRS mapped outside the bandwidth of the synchronization signal of thefirst PBCH symbol may be a PBCH DMRS mapped at a certain density in eachof upper and lower 84 REs, or may be a PBCH DMRS mapped at a certaindensity in each of upper and lower 72 REs.

For a case where a synchronization signal and a physical broadcastchannel have the same bandwidth, a DMRS is mapped to a part of REswithin the entire PBCH bandwidth in a symbol of the PBCH.

In addition, a PBCH contains a plurality of symbols, and is typicallyconfigured as two PBCH symbols shown in FIG. 6 . A DMRS sequence may bedefined as a long sequence that is mapped to a designated RE across aplurality of PBCH symbols; or a DMRS sequence is independently mapped toeach PBCH symbol.

Embodiment Three

This embodiment describes indicating at least part of timing informationby using a PBCH DMRS sequence. In a structure shown in FIG. 8 , PBCHTTI=80 ms, including four SS burst sets with a period of 20 ms, each SSburst set contains 64 SS blocks, which are respectively mapped in thefirst 32 slots of the SS burst set, two SS blocks are mapped in eachslot, where first three symbols of a slot are reserved for transmittingdownlink control or mini-slots, and last three symbols are reserved foruse as a guard period GP, and for transmitting uplink control.

In FIG. 8 , “a 240 kHz 14 symbols slot” is taken as an example. A mannerof mapping an SS block to a data transmission slot and the number of SSblocks included in an SS burst set are only examples. Other structuresand the number of SS blocks are not excluded. For different frequencybands, the number of SS blocks, a subcarrier spacing of a signal channelin an SS block, and a mapping structure of a slot time domain may alsobe different. In addition, these 64 resources are potential transmissionresources of an SS block. In an actual system, a base station may chooseto carry the SS block on some or all of the resources. When someresources do not actually transmit the SS block, the corresponding indexwill also be reserved, which will not affect indexes of other SS blocks,that is, an SS block index and a time domain location corresponding tothe index are fixed.

The solution considers how a base station indicates to a terminal the 64SS block indexes {SS block indexes 0˜63}.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9 , one PBCH DMRS sequence ismapped to two PBCH symbols, and the order of mapping is fixed. As shownby arrows in FIG. 9 , the DMRS on the two symbols is mapped to a fixedfrequency domain resource (that is, a fixed RE) (a frequency domainresource of the DMRS may be a predefined frequency domain resource, or afrequency domain resource related to a cell ID, for example, threegroups of DMRS frequency domain resources are predefined, the cell ID ismodeled as 3, which will result in 0 or 1 or 2, corresponding to a groupof DMRS resources, respectively), and a length of a DMRS sequence, thatis, an inserted time-frequency domain interval, needs to satisfy a PBCHdemodulation performance requirement, and different timing informationis indicated here only by different sequences.

For example, a PBCH bandwidth is 288 REs, and a bandwidth correspondingto a synchronization signal is 144 REs; a DMRS is only inserted to aPBCH RE outside a synchronization signal bandwidth, and a frequencydomain density is ⅓; and therefore, two PBCH symbols have2*(288−144)/3=96 REs. That is, a length of a DMRS sequence is 96. In thestructure shown in FIG. 8 , there are 64 different SS blocks in the SSburst set. Therefore, 64 different DMRS sequences (such as sequence 0 tosequence 63) need to be defined to indicate different SS block indexes(in this embodiment, the timing information indicated by using the DMRSsequence is an SS block index). According to a certain generationmanner, 64 different sequences with a length of 96 are obtained (forexample, the DMRS sequence may be a pseudo-random sequence PN sequence(such as an M sequence, etc.), an initial state is first defined, andthen different cyclic shifts are performed on an initial sequence toobtain sequences, and other sequence types and other sequence generationmethods are not limited). A base station will carry different PBCH DMRSsequences in different SS blocks, and a mapping relationship between aDMRS sequence and an SS block index is predefined. For example, a DMRSsequence 0 (S0) corresponds to an SS block index 0 (SBI 0), and asequence 1 corresponds to an SS block index 1, and so on, that is, anSn<=> SBIn rule is satisfied.

A terminal first detects a synchronization signal of a cell, determinesa symbol of a PBCH according to a fixed time domain locationrelationship between the PBCH symbol and a symbol of the synchronizationsignal, then determines a cell ID by detecting primary and secondarysynchronization signals, and obtains a frequency domain resource set ofa DMRS corresponding to the cell ID. A correlation detection operationis further performed on a signal received on the fixed DMRS mappingresource by using a local different DMRS sequence, and a local DMRSsequence corresponding to the maximum correlation peak is determined asa DMRS carried in the current SS block, thereby determining asynchronization signal block index.

Embodiment Four

This embodiment describes indicating at least part of timing informationby using a mapping order of a PBCH DMRS sequence. In a structure shownin FIG. 8 , one PBCH TTI=80 ms, and four SS burst sets of 20 ms periodare included. This embodiment indicates different SS burst sets in aPBCH TTI by using different mapping orders of PBCH DMRS sequences.

As shown in FIG. 10 , four mapping orders of PBCH DMRS sequences aredefined, that is, {order 0, order 1, order 2, order 3} (only fourmapping order examples are given here, and other mapping orders are notlimited thereto), and correspond to four SS burst sets in the PBCH TTIrespectively; for example, order 0 corresponds to a first SS burst setin the PBCH TTI, order 1 corresponds to a second SS burst set in thePBCH TTI, and so on. Further, different 20 ms periods are distinguished.For 10 bits of system frame number (SFN) information, values of theeighth and ninth bits can be determined.

In addition, the first seven bits of the SFN may be explicitly carriedby a PBCH. The last bit of the SFN may be determined by detection of anSS block, that is, all the SS blocks in the SS burst set are centrallyconfigured in the 5 ms time window, and a fixed relative locationrelationship between the time window and the 20 ms period is predefined,for example, all the SS blocks are within first 5 ms of 20 ms, and whena terminal detects a synchronization signal, it indicates that thecurrent time domain resource is first 10 ms of 20 ms, that is, the last1 bit of the SFN is determined.

A base station will determine a mapping order of a PBCH DMRS in each SSblock according to the above mapping relationship in different SS burstsets.

A terminal first detects a synchronization signal of a cell, determinesa symbol of a PBCH according to a fixed time domain locationrelationship between the PBCH symbol and a symbol of the synchronizationsignal, determines a cell ID by detecting primary and secondarysynchronization signals, and obtains a frequency domain resource set ofa DMRS corresponding to the cell ID. A correlation detection operationis further performed on a signal received on a fixed DMRS mappingresource by using a local different DMRS mapping order, and a DMRSmapping order corresponding to the maximum correlation peak isdetermined as a mapping order of a DMRS carried in the current SS block,thereby determining that a current SS block belongs to which SS burstset within a PBCH TTI.

Embodiment 5

This embodiment describes indicating at least part of timing informationby using a PBCH DMRS sequence and a DMRS mapping order collectively. Ina structure shown in FIG. 8 , one PBCH TTI=80 ms, four SS burst sets of20 ms period are included, each SS burst set contains 64 different SSblocks, and this embodiment uses different PBCH DMRS sequences and DMRSmapping orders to collectively indicate an SS block index within an SSburst set. As shown in FIG. 11 , eight mapping orders of a PBCH DMRSsequence are defined, that is, {order 0, order 1, order 2, order 3, . .. , order 7} (only eight mapping order examples are given here, andother mapping orders are not limited thereto). In order to collectivelyindicate 64 index information, eight different DMRS sequences (such assequence 0 to sequence 7) need to be defined. In other embodiments,carrying the timing information by using the DMRS includes: when anumber of candidate synchronization signal blocks is 4, defining fourdifferent DMRS sequences to be in one-to-one correspondence with foursynchronization signal blocks; and when a number of candidatesynchronization signal blocks is 8, defining eight different DMRSsequences to be in one-to-one correspondence with eight synchronizationsignal blocks.

In this embodiment, a DMRS is only inserted to a PBCH RE outside abandwidth of a synchronization signal, and a frequency domain density is⅓. Therefore, two PBCH symbols have 2*(288−144)/3=96 REs for insertingthe DMRS. That is, the length of a DMRS sequence is 96. According to acertain generation manner, eight different sequences with a length of 96are obtained (for example, the DMRS sequence may be a pseudo-randomsequence PN sequence (such as an M sequence, etc.), an initial state isfirst defined, and then different cyclic shifts are performed on aninitial sequence to obtain other sequences, and other sequence types andother sequence generation methods are not limited). The PBCH DMRSsequences and the DMRS mapping orders collectively indicate SS blockindexes, and specific indication relationships are as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 SS block PBCH DMRS PBCH DMRS index mapping order sequence  0Order 0 Sequence 0  1 Order 0 Sequence 1  2 Order 0 Sequence 2  3 Order0 Sequence 3  4 Order 0 Sequence 4  5 Order 0 Sequence 5  6 Order 0Sequence 6  7 Order 0 Sequence 7  8 Order 1 Sequence 0  9 Order 1Sequence 1 10 Order 1 Sequence 2 . . . . . . . . . 62 Order 7 Sequence 663 Order 7 Sequence 7

A base station will determine a PBCH DMRS sequence and a mapping orderthereof in the SS block according to an SS block index.

A terminal first detects a synchronization signal of a cell, determinesa PBCH symbol according to a fixed time domain location relationshipbetween the PBCH symbol and a symbol of the synchronization signal,determines a cell ID by detecting primary and secondary synchronizationsignals, and obtains a frequency domain resource set of a DMRScorresponding to the cell ID.

Further, according to assumption on combinations of different DMRSmapping orders and DMRS sequences, a correlation detection operation isperformed on a signal received on a fixed DMRS mapping resource, and aDMRS mapping order corresponding to the maximum correlation peak isdetermined as a mapping order and sequence of a DMRS carried in thecurrent SS block, thereby determining a current SS block index.

Embodiment Six

This embodiment describes another way to carry at least part of timinginformation by using PBCH DMRS sequences and/or mapping orders. As shownin FIG. 12 , a manner of mapping a DMRS on two PBCH symbols is: a DMRSinserted outside a bandwidth of a synchronization signal of a first PBCHsymbol uses a fixed sequence, which functions as channel estimation(without carrying timing information); and a DMRS sequence inserted in afull bandwidth of a second PBCH symbol is used to indicate timinginformation.

In this case, when identifying the DMRS inserted to the second PBCHsymbol, the DMRS and an SSS on the first PBCH symbol may be used forchannel estimation, that is, a part corresponding to the synchronizationsignal bandwidth may use the synchronization signal for channelestimation, and a part outside the synchronization signal bandwidth mayuse the DMRS on the first PBCH symbol for channel estimation. A coherentdetection operation is performed on the DMRS on the second PBCH symbolto improve detection performance of the DMRS, thereby improvingperformance of timing information indication.

A manner in which the DMRS on the second PBCH symbol carries the timinginformation is: defining a plurality of DMRS sequences.

DMRS is inserted to the second PBCH symbol at a density of ⅓, that is,96 REs of 288 REs are used to map the DMRS, and eight DMRS sequenceswith a length of 96 are generated, which are corresponding to differentvalues of the timing information respectively; for example, a SS burstset contains eight SS blocks, and each DMRS sequence corresponds to oneSS block index. A correspondence relationship as shown in Table 2 arepredefined, and a base station transmits a corresponding DMRS sequencein different SS blocks, and a terminal determines a current SS blockindex by identifying the DMRS sequence on the second PBCH symbol.

In other embodiments, before identifying the DMRS sequence on the secondPBCH symbol, a terminal first uses the synchronization signal and theDMRS on the first PBCH symbol to respectively perform channel estimationfor the corresponding frequency band, and uses a channel estimationresult, and performs a coherence detection operation on the DMRS on thesecond PBCH symbols, and the different local sequences are used tocorrelate with the signals received on the DMRS frequency domainresources, and a sequence with the largest peak is determined as a DMRSsequence transmitted by a current base station. The SS block indexcorresponding to the sequence is the timing information to beidentified.

TABLE 2 SS block DMRS sequence on a index second PBCH symbol 0 Sequence0 1 Sequence 1 2 Sequence 2 3 Sequence 3 4 Sequence 4 5 Sequence 4 6Sequence 6 7 Sequence 7

In other embodiments, the mapping order of the DMRS sequence on thesecond PBCH symbol may be introduced to carry more timing information,and two mapping orders of a DMRS sequence on the second PBCH symbol arepredefined: mapping from a high RB number to a low RB number, andmapping from a low RB number to a high RB number. Similar to Embodiment5, a combination of a sequence and mapping order of a DMRS may carrymore timing information. A terminal identifies carried timinginformation by identifying a sequence and mapping order of a DMRS on asecond PBCH symbol.

Embodiment Seven

This embodiment describes another way to carry at least part of timinginformation by using a PBCH DMRS sequence. As shown in FIG. 13 , amanner of mapping a DMRS on two PBCH symbols includes inserting the DMRSinto three parts.

The DMRS is inserted to a part of REs outside a bandwidth of asynchronization signal of a first PBCH symbol (a DMRS sequence may bemapped to both sides of the bandwidth of the synchronization signal)(referred to as a first DMRS); the DMRS is inserted to a part of REs ofa bandwidth corresponding to a bandwidth of a synchronization signal ofa first PBCH symbol (referred to as a second DMRS); and the DMRS isinserted to a part of REs of a full bandwidth of a second PBCH symbol(referred to as a third DMRS).

The first DMRS is a fixed sequence, and the sequence may be a sequencerelated to a cell identity, that is, different cell IDs may correspondto different sequences, but different synchronization signal blocks ofthe same cell use the same sequence, and do not carry timinginformation. The second DMRS and the third DMRS may be configured with aplurality of sequences, and a combination of the two sequences is usedto carry timing information.

Assuming that a density of a DMRS is ⅓, a length of the first DMRSsequence is 48, a length of the second DMRS sequence is 48, and a lengthof the third DMRS sequence is 96. In other embodiments, the second DMRSpre-defines four DMRS sequences, and the third DMRS pre-defines 16 DMRSsequences, and a sequence combination of the two include 64 states,which may be used to carry 6 bits of timing information. For example, anSS burst set contains 64 SS blocks, and a DMRS sequence combination maybe used to carry an SS block index.

In other embodiments, when identifying the second DMRS, a terminal usesa synchronization signal for channel estimation, and performs coherentdetection on the second DMRS, and uses different local sequences of thesecond DMRS to be correlated with signals received on the second DMRSfrequency domain resource, and determines the currently transmittedsecond DMRS sequence.

When identifying the third DMRS, a terminal uses a synchronizationsignal and the first DMRS to perform channel estimation respectively,performs a coherent detection operation on the third DMRS by usingchannel estimation results, and uses different local sequences of thethird DMRS to be correlated with signals received on the DMRS frequencydomain resource, and determines the obtained sequence with the maximumpeak as the third DMRS sequence transmitted by a current base station.

An SS block index corresponding to a combination of two sequences is thetiming information to be identified.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 14 , the timing information is stillindicated by the second DMRS and the third DMRS, and different DMRSmapping order combinations are defined, and the DMRS mapping ordercombinations may also be used to indicate timing information.

In other embodiments, the DMRS sequence combinations and the DMRSmapping order combinations may also indicate timing informationcollectively.

Embodiment Eight

This embodiment describes another way to carry at least part of timinginformation by using a PBCH DMRS sequence. As shown in FIG. 13 , amanner of mapping a DMRS on two PBCH symbols includes inserting the DMRSinto two parts.

The DMRS is inserted to a part of REs outside a bandwidth of asynchronization signal of a first PBCH symbol (a DMRS sequence may bemapped to both sides of the synchronization signal bandwidth) (referredto as a first DMRS); and

the DMRS is inserted to both a part of REs of a bandwidth correspondingto a bandwidth of a synchronization signal of a first PBCH symbol, and apart of REs of the full bandwidth of a second PBCH symbol (referred toas a second DMRS).

The first DMRS is a fixed sequence and does not carry timinginformation. The second DMRS may be configured with a plurality ofsequences, and different sequences are used to carry timing information.

Due to presence of a synchronization signal guard band, the first DMRSmay be that a PBCH DMRS is mapped at a certain density in each of upperand lower 84 REs, and correspondingly, on a part of REs of a bandwidthcorresponding to a bandwidth of the synchronization signal on the firstPBCH symbol, specifically mapped to a part of REs of the middle 132 REs;or the first DMRS may be that a PBCH DMRS is mapped at a certain densityin each of upper and lower 72 REs, and correspondingly, on a part of REsof a bandwidth corresponding to a bandwidth of the synchronizationsignal on the first PBCH symbol, and specifically mapped to a part ofREs of the middle 144 REs. Both cases are applicable.

Assuming that the density of the DMRS is ⅓, the length of the first DMRSsequence is 48; and the length of the second DMRS sequence is 144.

In other embodiments, the second DMRS is predefined with 16 DMRSsequences and may be used to carry 4 bits of timing information. Forexample, an SS burst set contains 64 SS blocks, and a DMRS sequencecombination may be used to carry an SS block index.

In other embodiments, when a terminal identifies the second DMRS,different parts of the second DMRS sequence utilize different channelestimation results; for example, in the second DMRS, a DMRS mapped tothe synchronization signal bandwidth on the first PBCH symbol and thesecond PBCH symbol uses the synchronization signal for channelestimation; in the second DMRS, a DMRS mapped outside thesynchronization signal bandwidth on the second PBCH symbol uses thefirst DMRS for channel estimation, performs a coherent detectionoperation on the second DMRS, and determines the sequence used by thesecond DMRS, thereby determining the value of the timing information.

An SS block index corresponding to a combination of two sequences is thetiming information to be identified.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 15 , the timing information is stillindicated by the second DMRS, and a different second DMRS mapping orderis defined. The second DMRS mapping order may also be used to indicatetiming information. In other embodiments, similar to Embodiment 5, thesecond DMRS sequence and the second DMRS mapping order may also indicatetiming information collectively.

Embodiment Nine

This embodiment describes another way to carry at least part of timinginformation by using a PBCH DMRS sequence and/or a mapping order. Asshown in FIG. 9 , a manner of mapping a DMRS on two PBCH symbols is:mapping the DMRS on a part of resource elements REs outside a bandwidthof a synchronization signal, and mapping the DMRS outside a bandwidth ofa synchronization signal of the first PBCH symbol, using a fixedsequence, which functions as channel estimation (without carrying timinginformation); and DMRS sequence inserted in a full bandwidth of a secondPBCH symbol is used to indicate timing information. The DMRS mapped tothe second PBCH symbol defines a plurality of sequences, and differentsequences are used to indicate different values of the timinginformation.

In this case, when the DMRS mapped to the second PBCH symbol isidentified, the DMRS on the first PBCH symbol may be used for channelestimation and frequency offset estimation. A coherent detectionoperation is performed on the DMRS on the second PBCH symbol to improvedetection performance of the DMRS, thereby improving performance oftiming information indication.

A manner in which the DMRS on the second PBCH symbol carries the timinginformation is: defining a plurality of DMRS sequences. For example, onthe second PBCH symbol, the length of the DMRS sequence is 48, and 16DMRS sequences with a length of 48 are defined. In addition, a differentmapping order of a DMRS on the second PBCH symbol may be defined, andthe DMRS mapping order may also be used to indicate timing information.In other embodiments, similar to Embodiment 5, the DMRS sequence and theDMRS mapping order may also indicate timing information collectively.

In addition, two DMRS sequences may be mapped to upper and lower partsof the synchronization signal bandwidth, that is, a DMRS sequence with alength of 24 is defined, and a combination of two sequences is used toindicate timing information.

As shown in FIG. 16 , a different mapping order combination of a DMRS onthe second PBCH symbol may be defined, and the DMRS mapping ordercombination may also be used to indicate timing information. In otherembodiments, similar to Embodiment 5, the DMRS sequence combination andthe DMRS mapping order combination may also indicate timing informationcollectively.

Embodiment Ten

This embodiment describes indicating at least part of timing informationby using a PBCH DMRS sequence combination. In a structure shown in FIG.17 , PBCH TTI=80 ms, eight SS burst sets of 10 ms period are included,each SS burst set includes four SS blocks that are mapped in the firsttwo slots of the SS burst set respectively, and two SS blocks are mappedin each of the slots, where first three symbols of the slot are reservedfor transmitting downlink control or mini-slots, and last three symbolsare reserved for use as a guard period GP, and transmission of uplinkcontrol.

In FIG. 17 , “a 15 kHz 14 symbols slot” is taken as an example. A mannerof mapping an SS block to a data transmission slot and the number of SSblocks included in an SS burst set are only examples. Other structuresand the number of SS blocks are not excluded. For different frequencybands, the number of SS blocks, a subcarrier spacing of a signal channelin an SS block, and a mapping structure of a slot time domain may alsobe different. In addition, these four resources are potentialtransmission resources of an SS block. In an actual system, a basestation may choose to carry the SS block on some or all of theresources. When some resources do not actually transmit the SS block,the corresponding index will also be reserved, which will not affectindexes of other SS blocks, that is, an SS block index and a time domainlocation corresponding to the index are fixed.

In the whole PBCH TTI range, a total of 4*8=32 SS blocks are included,and this embodiment considers how a base station indicates to a terminalSS block indexes {SS block indexes 0˜3} and radio frame timinginformation (i.e., the current SS block is in which SS burst set in thePBCH TTI, hereinafter referred to as a serial number of an SS burstset).

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18 , two PBCH DMRS sequences arerespectively mapped to two PBCH symbols, and mapping orders are fixed.As shown by arrows in FIG. 18 , a DMRS on each of the PBCH symbols ismapped to a fixed frequency domain resource (that is, a fixed RE) (afrequency domain resource of the DMRS may be a predefined frequencydomain resource, or a frequency domain resource related to a cell ID,for example, three groups of DMRS frequency domain resources arepredefined, the cell ID is modeled as 3, which will result in 0 or 1 or2, corresponding to a group of DMRS resources, respectively). Herein,different timing information is indicated only by inserting differentsequence combinations of DMRS to two PBCH symbols.

For example, a PBCH bandwidth is 288 REs, and a bandwidth correspondingto a synchronization signal is 144 REs; the DMRS is only inserted to thePBCH RE outside the synchronization signal bandwidth, and a frequencydomain density is ⅓; and therefore, two PBCH symbols have (288−144)/3=48REs. That is, the length of the DMRS sequence inserted to each PBCHsymbol is 48.

In the structure shown in FIG. 17 , there are 32 combinations of an SSblock index and a serial number of an SS burst set. Therefore, it isnecessary to define 32 different DMRS sequence combinations. Forexample, eight DMRS sequences are defined on a first PBCH symbol; andfour DMRS sequences are defined on a second PBCH symbol.

Regarding generation of the sequence, taking the DMRS sequence on thefirst PBCH symbol as an example, eight different sequences with a lengthof 48 are obtained according to a certain generation method, that is,{Q0, Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q7} (for example, the DMRS sequence may bea pseudo-random sequence PN sequence (such as an M sequence, etc.). Aninitial state is first defined, and then different cyclic shifts areperformed on an initial sequence to obtain other sequences, and othersequence types and other sequence generation methods are not limited).Generation of a DMRS sequence on another PBCH symbol is similar, andfour different sequences are obtained, that is, {S0, S1, S2, S3}.

A base station will carry different PBCH DMRS sequence combinations indifferent SS blocks, and a mapping relationship between a DMRS sequencecombination and {SS block index, serial number of SS burst set} ispredefined, for example, in the manner shown in Table 3, it isequivalent that a DMRS sequence on the first PBCH symbol indicates aserial number of an SS burst set, and a DMRS sequence on the second PBCHsymbol indicates an SS block index.

TABLE 3 Serial SS DMRS sequence DMRS sequence number of block on a firston a second SS burst set index PBCH symbol PBCH symbol 0 0 Q0 S0 0 1 Q0S1 0 2 Q0 S2 0 3 Q0 S3 1 0 Q1 S0 1 1 Q1 S1 1 2 Q1 S2 1 3 Q1 S3 2 0 Q2 S02 1 Q2 S1 2 2 Q2 S2 . . . . . . . . . 7 2 Q7 S2 7 3 Q7 S3

A terminal first detects a synchronization signal of a cell, determinesa symbol of a PBCH according to a fixed time domain locationrelationship between a PBCH symbol and a symbol of a synchronizationsignal, further correlate different local DMRS sequences {Q0, Q1, Q2,Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6 and Q7} and signals received on a fixed DMRS frequencydomain mapping resource on the first PBCH symbol, respectively, anddetermines a local DMRS sequence corresponding to the maximumcorrelation peak as a DMRS sequence carried on the first PBCH symbol inthe current SS block (for example, Q6); and similarly, the terminalcorrelates different local DMRS sequences {S0, S1, S2, S3} and signalsreceived on a fixed DMRS frequency domain mapping resource on the secondPBCH symbol, respectively, and determines a local DMRS sequencecorresponding to the maximum correlation peak as a DMRS sequence carriedon the second PBCH symbol in the current SS block (for example, S2).Therefore, the detected SS block belongs to the sixth SS burst set in aPBCH TTI, an SS block index is 2, thereby determining the timinginformation.

Embodiment Eleven

This embodiment describes indicating at least part of timing informationby using a mapping order combination of a PBCH DMRS sequence.

In a structure shown in FIG. 8 , one PBCH TTI=80 ms, and four SS burstsets of 20 ms period are included. This embodiment uses differentmapping orders of PBCH DMRS sequences to indicate different SS burstsets in the PBCH TTI.

As shown in FIG. 19 , two PBCH DMRS sequences are respectively mapped totwo PBCH symbols. As shown by arrows in FIG. 19 , four mapping ordercombinations of PBCH DMRS sequences are defined, that is, {order 0,order 1, order 2, order 3} (here merely four mapping order examples aregiven, and other mapping sequences are not limited thereto), andcorrespond to four SS burst sets in a PBCH TTI respectively. Forexample, order 0 corresponds to a first SS burst set in the PBCH TTI,and order 1 corresponds to a second SS burst set in the PBCH TTI, and soon. Further, different 20 ms periods are distinguished. For 10 bits ofsystem frame number information (SFN), values of the eighth and ninthbits can be determined.

In addition, the first seven bits of the SFN may be explicitly carriedby a PBCH. The last bit of the SFN may be determined by the detection ofan SS block, that is, all the SS blocks in the SS burst set arecentrally configured in the 5 ms time window, and a fixed relativelocation relationship between the time window and the 20 ms period ispredefined, for example, the SS block is within the first 5 ms of 20 ms,and when a terminal detects a synchronization signal, it indicates thatthe current time domain resource is the first 10 ms of 20 ms, that is,the last 1 bit of the SFN is determined.

A base station will determine a mapping order of a DMRS on two PBCHsymbols in each SS block according to the above mapping relationship indifferent SS burst sets.

A terminal first detects a synchronization signal of a cell, anddetermines a symbol of a PBCH according to a fixed time domain locationrelationship between a PBCH symbol and a symbol of a synchronizationsignal, further assumes different DMRS mapping orders, and performs acorrelation detection operation on signals received on a fixed DMRSfrequency domain mapping resource on the first PBCH symbol by using alocal DMRS sequence, and determines a mapping order of a DMRScorresponding to the maximum correlation peak as a mapping order of aDMRS carried on the first PBCH symbol in the current SS block (forexample, mapping from a high RB to a low RB), and similarly, assumesdifferent DMRS mapping orders, and performs a correlation detectionoperation on a signal received on a fixed DMRS frequency domain mappingresource on the second PBCH symbol by using a local DMRS sequence, anddetermines a mapping order of a DMRS corresponding to the maximumcorrelation peak as a mapping order of a DMRS carried on the second PBCHsymbol in the current SS block (for example, mapping from a low RB to ahigh RB). That is, mapping orders of the DMRS on two PBCH symbols arecombined into order 2, thereby determining that the current SS blockbelongs to the third SS burst set in the PBCH TTI.

Embodiment Twelve

This embodiment describes indicating at least part of timing informationby using an orthogonal sequence on a PBCH DMRS sequence. In a structureshown in FIG. 20 , PBCH TTI=80 ms, four SS burst sets with a period of20 ms are included, each SS burst set includes eight SS blocks that aremapped in the first four slots of the SS burst set respectively, and twoSS blocks are mapped in each of the slots, where first three symbols ofthe slot are reserved for transmitting downlink control or mini-slots,and last three symbols are reserved for use as a guard period GP, andtransmission of uplink control.

In FIG. 20 , “a 30 kHz 14 symbols slot” is taken as an example. A mannerof mapping an SS block to a data transmission slot and the number of SSblocks included in an SS burst set are only examples. Other structuresand the number of SS blocks are not excluded. For different frequencybands, the number of SS blocks, a subcarrier spacing of a signal channelin an SS block, and a mapping structure of a slot time domain may alsobe different. In addition, these eight resources in the SS burst set arepotential transmission resources of the SS block. In an actual system, abase station may choose to carry an SS block on some or all of theresources. When some resources do not actually transmit the SS block,the corresponding index will also be reserved, which will not affectindexes of other SS blocks, that is, an SS block index and a time domainlocation corresponding to the index are fixed.

This embodiment considers how a base station indicates to a terminal theeight SS block indexes {SS block indexes 0˜7}.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 21 , two PBCH DMRS sequences arerespectively mapped to two PBCH symbols, and mapping orders are fixed.As shown by arrows in FIG. 21 (mapping from a high RB to a low RB), aDMRS on each of the PBCH symbols is mapped to a fixed frequency domainresource (that is, a fixed RE) (a frequency domain resource of the DMRSmay be a predefined frequency domain resource, or a frequency domainresource related to a cell ID, for example, three groups of DMRSfrequency domain resources are predefined, the cell ID is modeled as 3,which will result in 0 or 1 or 2, corresponding to a group of DMRSresources, respectively). And DMRS sequences on the corresponding PBCHsymbols in different SS blocks are the same, a DMRS sequence on thefirst PBCH symbol may be the same as or different from a DMRS sequenceon the second PBCH symbol. Here different timing information isindicated by only inserting different orthogonal sequences used by theDMRS to the two PBCH symbols.

For example, a PBCH bandwidth is 288 REs, and a bandwidth correspondingto a synchronization signal is 144 REs; the DMRS is only inserted to thePBCH RE outside the synchronization signal bandwidth, and a frequencydomain density is ⅓; and therefore, two PBCH symbols have (288−144)/3=48REs. That is, the length of the DMRS sequence on each PBCH symbol is 48.

The DMRS sequences on the two symbols are further subjected toorthogonal cover coding, i.e., processed with an orthogonal cover code.Eight orthogonal sequences as shown in FIG. 21 are defined, and mappingrelationships between an orthogonal sequence combination and an SS blockindex as shown in Table 4 are predefined.

TABLE 4 SS block index Orthogonal cover code 0 [+1, −1], [+1, +1] 1 [−1,+1], [+1, +1] 2 [+1, +1], [+1, −1] 3 [+1, +1], [−1, +1] 4 [−1, −1], [-1,+1] 5 [−1, −1], [+1, −1] 6 [−1, +1], [−1, −1] 7 [+1, −1], [−1, −1]

For example, on two PBCH symbols, original DMRS sequences insertedrespectively are {a0, a1, a2, . . . , a47} and {b0, b1, b2, . . . ,b47}. When processing is performed by using orthogonal sequences [+1,−1] and [+1, +1], each element of a DMRS sequence on a first PBCH symbolis multiplied by a first element of one of the orthogonal sequencesrespectively to obtain a sequence M; each element of a DMRS sequence ona second PBCH symbol is multiplied by a second element of one of theorthogonal sequence respectively to obtain a sequence N, and thecorresponding elements of the sequence M and the sequence N are addedrespectively to obtain {a0-b0, a1-b1, a2-b2, . . . , a47-b47}, and theobtained elements are mapped to DMRS resource elements of the first PBCHsymbol respectively; and each element of a DMRS sequence on a secondPBCH symbol is multiplied by a first element of the other of theorthogonal sequences respectively to obtain a sequence P, each elementof a DMRS sequence on a second PBCH symbol is multiplied by a secondelement of the other of the orthogonal sequences to obtain a sequence Q,the corresponding elements of the sequence P and the sequence Q areadded respectively to obtain {a0+b0, a1+b1, a2+b2, . . . , a47+b47}, andthe obtained elements are mapped to DMRS resource elements of the secondPBCH symbol respectively. Then, the following DMRS sequences {a0-b0,a1-b1, a2-b2, . . . , a47-b47} and {a0+b0, a1+b1, a2+b2, . . . ,a47+b47} are actually carried on the two PBCH symbols, respectively. Inthis case, a terminal needs to adopt a specific orthogonal sequence,[+1, +1] and [−1, +1] so that the original DMRS sequence information canbe restored. That is, a same original sequence is processed by using adifferent orthogonal sequence combination in Table 3, different actualtransmit DMRS sequences are thus obtained, and when the terminalreceives the sequences, the different orthogonal sequence combination isused to perform inverse processing on the received DMRS sequences torestore the original DMRS sequence.

In this process, a terminal determines an orthogonal sequence attachedto a current DMRS sequence according to an orthogonal sequence used whenan original DMRS sequence is successfully restored, and then determinesan SS block index.

Embodiment Thirteen

This embodiment describes another way of indicating at least part oftiming information by using an orthogonal sequence on a PBCH DMRSsequence. In a structure shown in FIG. 20 , PBCH TTI=80 ms, four SSburst sets with a period of 20 ms are included, each SS burst setincludes eight SS blocks that are mapped in first four slots of the SSburst set respectively, and two SS blocks are mapped in each of theslots, where first three symbols of the slot are reserved fortransmitting downlink control or mini-slots, and last three symbols arereserved for use as a guard period GP, and transmission of uplinkcontrol.

In FIG. 20 , “a 30 kHz 14 symbols slot” is taken as an example. A mannerof mapping an SS block to a data transmission slot and the number of SSblocks included in an SS burst set are only examples. Other structuresand the number of SS blocks are not excluded. For different frequencybands, the number of SS blocks, a subcarrier spacing of a signal channelin an SS block, and a mapping structure of a slot time domain may alsobe different. In addition, these eight resources in the SS burst set arepotential transmission resources of an SS block. In an actual system, abase station may choose to carry the SS block on some or all of theresources. When some resources do not actually transmit the SS block,the corresponding index will also be reserved, which will not affectindexes of other SS blocks, that is, an SS block index and a time domainlocation corresponding to the index are fixed.

This embodiment describes how a base station indicates to a terminalwhether the detected SS block is a first SS block or a last SS block ina slot.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 22 , two PBCH DMRS sequences arerespectively mapped to two PBCH symbols, and mapping orders are fixed.As shown by arrows in FIG. 22 (mapping from a high RB to a low RB), aDMRS on each of the PBCH symbols is mapped to a fixed frequency domainresource (that is, a fixed RE) (a frequency domain resource of the DMRSmay be a predefined frequency domain resource, or a frequency domainresource related to a cell ID, for example, three groups of DMRSfrequency domain resources are predefined, the cell ID is modeled as 3,which will result in 0 or 1 or 2, corresponding to a group of DMRSresources, respectively). And DMRS sequences on the corresponding PBCHsymbols in different SS blocks are the same, a DMRS sequence on thefirst PBCH symbol may be the same as or different from a DMRS sequenceon the second PBCH symbol. Here different timing information isindicated by only inserting different orthogonal sequences used by theDMRS on the two PBCH symbols.

In other embodiments, a set of orthogonal sequences, [+1, +1] and [+1,−1], is defined. As shown in FIG. 13 , an orthogonal sequence [+1, +1]is used on a first SS block of each slot, that is, multiplyingrespective elements of a DMRS sequence on a first PBCH symbol by a firstelement of the orthogonal sequence, and mapping the multiplying resultsto DMRS resource elements of the first PBCH symbol respectively; andmultiplying respective elements of a DMRS sequence on a second PBCHsymbol by a second element of the orthogonal sequence, and mapping themultiplying results to DMRS resource elements of the second PBCH symbolrespectively. For example, each element of original DMRS sequences onthe two PBCH symbols, {a0, a1, a2, . . . , a47} and {b0, b1, b2, . . . ,b47}, is multiplied by +1 respectively; on a last SS block of each slot,an orthogonal sequence [+1, −1] is used for processing, that is, eachelement of the original DMRS sequence on the first PBCH symbol, {a0, a1,a2, . . . , a47}, is multiplied by +1, and each element of the originalDMRS sequence on the last PBCH symbol, {b0, b1, b2, . . . , b47}, ismultiplied by −1 to obtain {−b0, −b1, −b2, . . . , −b47}.

In this case, a terminal determines whether a current SS block is afirst SS block or a last SS block in a slot by determining an orthogonalsequence used in the current SS block.

In other embodiments, the terminal connects data received in a DMRSfrequency domain location within the two PBCH symbols in the orderindicated by the arrow (the first symbol is mapped from an RE with ahigh number to an RE with a low number), and performs correlationcomputation on received sequences by using the following local sequencesrespectively, {a0, a1, a2, . . . , a47, b0, b1, b2, . . . , b47} and{a0, a1, a2, . . . , a47, −b0, −b1, −b2, . . . , −b47} to obtain twocorrelation values R1 and R2. If R1>R2, an orthogonal sequence used by atransmitting end is [+1, +1], otherwise an orthogonal sequence used bythe transmitting end is [+1, −1].

For example, when an orthogonal sequence used by a transmitting DMRS is[+1, +1], and a local sequence {a0, a1, a2, . . . , a47, b0, b1, b2, . .. , b47} is used to correlate with received data, a larger correlationpeak R1 will be obtained; and when a local sequence {a0, a1, a2, . . . ,a47, −b0, −b1, −b2, . . . , −b47} is used to correlate with receiveddata, a smaller correlation peak R2 will be obtained. Therefore, R1>R2,and an orthogonal sequence used by the PBCH DMRS sequence in the currentSS block is [+1, +1]. Further, the current SS block is determined as thefirst SS block in the slot.

Embodiment Fourteen

This embodiment describes another way to indicate at least part oftiming information by using an orthogonal sequence combination on a PBCHDMRS sequence. In a structure shown in FIG. 20 , PBCH TTI=80 ms, four SSburst sets with a period of 20 ms are included, each SS burst setincludes eight SS blocks that are mapped in the first four slots of theSS burst set respectively, and two SS blocks are mapped in each of theslots, where first three symbols of the slot are reserved fortransmitting downlink control or mini-slots, and last three symbols arereserved for use as a guard period GP, and transmission of uplinkcontrol.

This embodiment describes how a base station indicates to a terminalfour slots {Slot 0˜3} in an SS burst set.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 23 , difference from Embodiment 8is that DMRS sequences of different frequency domain parts adoptdifferent orthogonal sequences. Typically, an upper half of the DMRSsequences uses an orthogonal sequence 1, and a lower half of the DMRSsequences uses an orthogonal sequence 2. A combination of the twoindicates timing information collectively. Two orthogonal sequences aredefined, and a combination of the upper and lower orthogonal sequencesincludes 2*2=4 states for indicating 4 slots.

In other embodiments, a mapping relationship between an orthogonalsequence and a serial number of a slot as shown in Table 5 may also bepredefined.

TABLE 5 Serial number of Orthogonal Orthogonal slot in SS burst setsequence 1 sequence 0 [+1, +1] [+1, +1] 1 [+1, +1] [+1, −1] 2 [+1, −1][+1, +1] 3 [+1, −1] [+1, −1]

When a terminal performs reception, DMRSs of upper and lower half offrequency domain parts are respectively processed by using differentorthogonal sequences in the same manner as described in Embodiment 11,so as to restore an original DMRS sequence. A combination of orthogonalsequences used is identified, and further, an SS block index isdetermined.

Embodiment Fifteen

This embodiment describes indicating at least part of timing informationby using a mapping order of a PBCH DMRS sequence and a combination oforthogonal sequences on the PBCH DMRS sequence. In a structure shown inFIG. 20 , PBCH TTI=80 ms, four SS burst sets with a period of 20 ms areincluded, each SS burst set includes eight SS blocks that are mapped infirst four slots of the SS burst set respectively, and two SS blocks aremapped in each of the slots, where first three symbols of the slot arereserved for transmitting downlink control or mini-slots, and last threesymbols are reserved for use as a guard period GP, and transmission ofuplink control.

On the basis of indicating the SS block index by using the orthogonalcover code on the PBCH DMRS sequence in Embodiment 12, this embodimentfurther indicates a serial number of an SS burst set by using mappingorders of different PBCH DMRS sequences. As shown in FIG. 19 , fourmapping order combinations of PBCH DMRS sequences are defined, that is,{order 0, order 1, order 2, order 3} (only four mapping order examplesare given here, and other mapping orders are not limited thereto), andcorrespond to four SS burst sets in the PBCH TTI respectively; forexample, order 0 corresponds to a first SS burst set in the PBCH TTI,order 1 corresponds to a second SS burst set in the PBCH TTI, and so on.

A base station will adopt the corresponding DMRS mapping order in adifferent SS burst set, and process the DMRS by using the correspondingorthogonal sequence for a different SS block.

When a terminal performs DMRS detection, different DMRS mappingsequences are assumed, and under certain DMRS mapping order assumptions,different orthogonal sequences are used for despreading, and an originalsequence of a DMRS is correlated with a despreaded signal of thereceived signal. When the terminal uses an orthogonal sequence to obtainthe largest correlation peak in a certain DMRS mapping order, a mappingorder of a DMRS in a current SS block and an orthogonal sequence usedare determined, thereby determining a serial number of an SS burst setand an SS block index that the current SS block belongs to.

In this embodiment, timing information is collectively indicated by aDMRS mapping order and an additional orthogonal sequence, and the methodof the present invention is also applicable to other manners ofcollective indication. For example, a collective indication of timinginformation is performed by using any combination of a DMRS mappingorder, an orthogonal sequence, and a DMRS sequence.

Embodiment Sixteen

This embodiment describes a method in which a PBCH DMRS sequence ismapped over the entire PBCH bandwidth and a part of the DMRSscorresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidth is used to indicatetiming information. When the PBCH DMRS is mapped over the entire PBCHbandwidth, for the part of DMRSs overlapping with a synchronizationsignal, since the synchronization signal and the PBCH use the sameantenna port, the synchronization signal may be used for channelestimation, frequency offset estimation and compensation, which is moreadvantageous for utilizing coherent detection of the part of DMRSs toimprove detection performance.

As shown in FIG. 24 , the synchronization signal occupies a bandwidth of144 RE, where the synchronization signal sequence is mapped to themiddle of 127 REs, and each has eight or nine REs as guard bands. ThePBCH DMRS may be inserted in the bandwidth corresponding to 127 REs, sothat channel estimation and frequency offset estimation and compensationmay be performed by using synchronization signals (PSS/SSS). It is alsopossible to insert a PBCH DMRS in the bandwidth corresponding to 144REs. Although this is slightly different from the synchronizationsignal, the channel estimation and frequency offset estimation for anedge DMRS RE are not accurate, but are also acceptable. Here the PBCHDMRS is inserted with 144 REs and the DMRS inserted in the bandwidthrange is used to indicate the timing information. DMRS is inserted at afrequency domain density of ⅓, and thus there are 144/3=48 REs on eachsymbol for DMRS mapping. Similar to the previous embodiments, DMRSsequences may be independently mapped to two symbols, or one DMRSsequence may be commonly mapped thereon.

A DMRS sequence mapped in a bandwidth corresponding to a synchronizationsignal bandwidth and a DMRS sequence outside the synchronization signalbandwidth may be independent sequences. As shown in the left (a) of FIG.25 , a DMRS sequence is commonly mapped to two PBCH symbols in abandwidth corresponding to the synchronization signal, and a DMRSsequence are commonly mapped to two PBCH symbols outside thesynchronization signal bandwidth. It is also possible to map a DMRSsequence within the PBCH bandwidth.

The method described in the above embodiments is still applicable. Thatis, at least part of timing information may be indicated by using a DMRSsequence, a DMRS mapping order, an orthogonal sequence, an orthogonalsequence combination, and a combination of the above.

When detecting a DMRS, a terminal completes detection of asynchronization signal, uses synchronization signals to perform channelestimation, frequency offset estimation and compensation, and furtherperforms a correlation operation with the DMRS, thereby determining aDMRS sequence, a mapping order, an orthogonal sequence used, and thelike of the corresponding part of the synchronization signal bandwidthin a current PBCH symbol. Specific methods are the same as the previousembodiments, and the timing information corresponding thereto is thusobtained.

Embodiment Seventeen

This embodiment describes a method in which a PBCH DMRS sequence ismapped to the entire PBCH bandwidth and timing information is indicatedby using a DMRS over the entire PBCH bandwidth.

In this embodiment, the PBCH DMRS is mapped to the entire PBCHbandwidth, and the DMRS on the entire PBCH bandwidth is used to indicatetiming information. In this case, the DMRS sequence length is longer,and more information may be implied; however, since only a part of thebandwidth overlaps with the synchronization signal, using thesynchronization signal for channel estimation, frequency offsetestimation, and coherent detection for DMRS does not necessarily bringabout a gain in detection performance. Of course, the method does notlimit whether a terminal uses a synchronization signal for channelestimation, frequency offset estimation and compensation.

As shown in FIG. 26 , a PBCH occupies a bandwidth of 288 REs, and a DMRSis inserted at a frequency domain density of ⅓, and 288/3=96 REs areused for DMRS mapping on each symbol. Similar to the previousembodiments, DMRS sequences may be independently mapped to two symbols,or one DMRS sequence may be commonly mapped thereon.

The method described in Embodiments 3-10 is still applicable. That is,at least part of timing information may be indicated by using a DMRSsequence, a DMRS mapping order, an orthogonal sequence, an orthogonalsequence combination, and any combination of the above.

When detecting a DMRS, a terminal completes detection of asynchronization signal, optionally, the synchronization signal may beused for channel estimation, frequency offset estimation andcompensation (that is, a channel estimation result of thesynchronization signal is applied to a part of DMRS corresponding to thebandwidth of the synchronization signal, and a coherent detectionoperation is performed on this part of the DMRS; and the channelestimation result of the synchronization signal is not applied to theDMRS outside the synchronization signal bandwidth, and a non-coherentdetection operation is performed on the part of the DMRS); the channelestimation and the frequency offset estimation and compensation may notbe performed at all, and the non-coherent detection operation isperformed on the DMRS so as to determine a DMRS sequence, a mappingorder, an orthogonal sequence used, and the like in a current PBCHsymbol, and the specific manner is the same as the foregoing embodiment,thereby obtaining timing information corresponding thereto.

Embodiment Eighteen

In this embodiment, timing information is indicated by using a PBCH DMRSsequence and a physical broadcast channel transmission mannercollectively. The physical broadcast channel transmission mannerincludes at least one of: information bits carried by a physicalbroadcast channel, a cyclic shift of physical broadcast channelinformation bits, a scrambling code of a physical broadcast channel, aCRC mask of a physical broadcast channel, and a redundancy version (RV)of a physical broadcast channel.

For example, in a structure as shown in FIG. 8 , the timing informationincludes: 10 bits of SFN information, 1 bit of half frame timing, and 6bits of SS block index information. Since a PBCH TTI is 80 ms, that is,PBCH information content is unchanged within 80 ms, high 7 bits of anSFN may be explicitly carried in a payload of the PBCH. The 8th and 9thbits of the SFN (equivalent to distinguishing different SS burst sets inthe PBCH TTI) need to achieve timing of a 20 ms level, and an SS burstset may be distinguished by different RVs. For the last 1 bit, since anSS block is centrally configured in a first 5 ms of 20 ms, a terminalmainly detects the SS block, which means that the current SS block is ina first 10 ms of 20 ms (that is, a first radio frame within 20 ms), andlocated in a first half of the radio frame. SS block index informationmay be carried by using different DMRS sequences in the manner ofEmbodiment 1.

The foregoing is merely a typical example of indicating timinginformation by using a PBCH DMRS sequence and a physical broadcastchannel transmission manner. The PBCH DMRS sequence and the physicalbroadcast channel transmission manner may be combined in any manner toindicate complete timing information.

Embodiment Nineteen

In this embodiment, a method for indicating complete timing informationis described, which specifically includes the following contents: asynchronization signal burst set has the following six periodconfigurations, including: 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms.In different period configurations, requirements for the number ofindication bits are different. As shown in FIG. 26 a , in a 5 ms periodconfiguration, a terminal needs to distinguish 16 potential locationswithin a 80 ms PBCH TTI, that is, 4 bits indication information isrequired. For higher period configuration, fewer indication bits arerequired. When a terminal in an initial access phase does not know theactual synchronous transmission period on a network side, the sametiming indication information should correspond to the same time domainlocation regardless of the transmission period, in order to avoid timingambiguity of the terminal. As shown in FIG. 26A, combinations ofdifferent PBCH RVs (0 to 4), PBCH DMRS mapping orders (order 0, order1), and PBCH DMRS sequence groups (Sequence group 0, Sequence group 1)correspond to different timing indication information for indicating thelower three bits of a system frame number and half frame timing. For thecase of a large period, a part of the combinations will not be used. Forexample, in the case of a period of 40 ms, merely the following twocombinations are used: {RV 0, Order 0, SG 0} and {RV 2, Order 0, SG 0}.

In addition, for different frequency ranges, the number of SS blocksincluded in an SS burst set is also different. For a frequency bandbelow 3 GHz, the SS burst set contains up to four SS blocks; in afrequency band of 3 GHz to 6 GHz, an SS burst set contains up to eightSS blocks; and in a frequency band of 6 GHz to 52.6 GHz, an SS burst setcontains up to 64 SS blocks. Therefore, the number of SS block indexesin an SS burst set is also different, and the number of requiredindication bits is also different.

In this embodiment, assuming that for a frequency band below 6 GHz and afrequency band above 6 GHz, 5 bits of information may be carried throughan attribute of a DMRS. For example, in the mapping manner shown in FIG.26B, a DMRS is inserted to a part of REs outside a synchronizationsignal bandwidth of a first PBCH symbol (a DMRS sequence may be mappedto both sides of the synchronization signal bandwidth) (referred to as afirst DMRS); and

a DMRS is commonly mapped to both a part of REs of a bandwidthcorresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidth of a first PBCHsymbol, and a part of REs of the full bandwidth of the second PBCHsymbol (referred to as a second DMRS).

The first DMRS is a fixed sequence, and the sequence may be a sequencerelated to a cell identity, that is, different cell IDs may correspondto different sequences, but the same sequence is used in differentsynchronization signal blocks of the same cell, and does not carrytiming information. The second DMRS may configure a plurality ofsequences (such as 32) and introduce different mapping orders (twomapping orders shown by arrows in FIG. 26 b ).

Timing information includes: a 10 bits of SFN, half frame timing, and a6 bits of SS block index. Indication is given by using the followingmanners:

The high 7 bits of the SFN are used to be explicitly carried in PBCHinformation bits.

As shown in FIG. 26 a , four PBCH RVs are defined for indicating 20 mstiming (corresponding to the 8th and 9th bits of the SFN), that is, RV 0corresponds to a first 20 ms in the PBCH TTI, RV 1 corresponds to asecond 20 ms in the PBCH TTI, RV 2 corresponds to a third 20 ms in thePBCH TTI, and RV 3 corresponds to a fourth 20 ms in the PBCH TTI. Theradio frame timing (equivalent to the lowest bit of the SFN) isindicated by two PBCH DMRS mapping orders, for example, order 0corresponds to a first radio frame within each 20 ms, and order 2corresponds to a last radio frame within each 20 ms.

32 PBCH DMRS sequences are divided into two groups, each group contains16 sequences, and a sequence group (SG) to which the currently mappedsequence belongs is used to indicate first and second half frames in aradio frame.

In other embodiments, for a frequency band below 6 GHz, 16 sequences aresufficient to indicate eight SS block indexes. Therefore, for afrequency band below 3 GHz, an SS burst set contains up to four SSblocks, and four different DMRS sequences are defined to be inone-to-one correspondence with the four SS blocks; for a frequency bandof 3 GHz to 6 GHz, an SS burst set contains up to eight SS blocks, andeight different DMRS sequences are defined to be in one-to-onecorrespondence with the eight SS blocks; and for a frequency band above6 GHz, 16 sequences are not sufficient to indicate 64 different SS blockindexes. As shown in FIG. 26 c , in PBCH information bits, 2 bits ofexplicit information are introduced, which are 00, 01, 10 and 11,respectively.

In this case, for a frequency band below 6 GHz, information bits forindicating an SS block index may not be introduced in the PBCHinformation bits, and a terminal determines the number of PBCHinformation bits according to a frequency band range to which an accessfrequency point belongs. It is also possible to consider to preserve thetwo bits at the low frequency from the perspective of uniform design,and configure them with the same value (for example, 00, these two bitshave no real-time meaning), or two bits corresponding to the lowfrequency are used to indicate other information, thus maintaining thenumber of PBCH information bits in high and low frequencies to be thesame.

Embodiment Twenty

In this embodiment, another indication method of complete timinginformation is described.

In this embodiment, assumption is made as follows: for a frequency bandbelow 6 GHz and a frequency band above 6 GHz, 3 bits of information maybe carried through an attribute of a DMRS, for example, presetting eightDMRS sequences for carrying.

Timing information includes: a 10 bits of SFN, half frame timing, and a6 bits of SS block index. Indication is given by using the followingmanners:

7 high bits of the SFN are used to be explicitly carried in PBCHinformation bits.

As shown in FIG. 26 d , four PBCH RVs are defined for indicating 20 mstiming (corresponding to the 8th and 9th bits of the SFN), that is, RV 0corresponds to a first 20 ms in a PBCH TTI, RV 1 corresponds to a second20 ms in the PBCH TTI, RV 2 corresponds to a third 20 ms in the PBCHTTI, and RV 3 corresponds to a fourth 20 ms in the PBCH TTI. Different 5ms (equivalent to radio frame timing and half frame timing) within each20 ms is indicated by a CRC mask of a PBCH. That is, CRC mask 0corresponds to a first 5 ms, CRC mask 1 corresponds to a second 5 ms in20 ms, CRC mask 2 corresponds to a third 5 ms in 20 ms, and CRC mask 3corresponds to a fourth 5 ms in 20 ms.

Similarly, it is necessary to ensure that a combination of RV\CRCuniquely corresponds to a time domain location to avoid terminal timingambiguity problems. That is, for the 5 ms of period, differentcombinations of RV and CRC will be used; and for a larger period, somecombinations will not be used. For example, in a 40 ms of period, merelytwo combinations such as RV0\CRC0 and RV2\CRC0 are applied.

In other embodiments, carrying the timing information by using the DMRSincludes: dividing all defined DMRS sequences into two sequence groups,and a sequence group to which the DMRS sequence belongs being used toindicate first and second half frames in a radio frame.

For a frequency band below 6 GHz, eight sequences are sufficient toindicate eight SS block indexes. Therefore, for a frequency band below 3GHz, an SS burst set contains up to four SS blocks, and four differentDMRS sequences are defined to be in one-to-one correspondence with thefour SS blocks; for a frequency band of 3 GHz to 6 GHz, an SS burst setcontains up to eight SS blocks, and eight different DMRS sequences aredefined to be in one-to-one correspondence with the eight SS blocks; and

for a frequency band above 6 GHz, eight sequences are not sufficient toindicate 64 different SS block indexes. As shown in FIG. 26 e , in PBCHinformation bits, 3 bits of explicit information are introduced, whichare 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110 and 111, respectively. The 3 bitsof explicit information is used to indicate three most significant bitsof an SS block index. Therefore, a plurality of adjacent SS blocks willcontain the same PBCH information bits, facilitating combined reception.

In this case, for a frequency band below 6 GHz, information bits forindicating an SS block index may not be introduced in the PBCHinformation bits, and a terminal determines the number of PBCHinformation bits according to a frequency band range to which an accessfrequency point belongs. It is also possible to consider to preserve thethree bits at the low frequency from the perspective of uniform design,and configure them with the same value (for example, 000, these threebits have no practical meaning), or three bits corresponding to the lowfrequency are used to indicate other information, thus maintaining thenumber of PBCH information bits in high and low frequencies to be thesame.

Embodiment Twenty-One

In this embodiment, another indication method of complete timinginformation is described.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that for a frequency band below 6 GHz,7 bits of information may be carried by an attribute of a DMRS, forexample, being commonly carried by preset 64 DMRS sequences and mappingorders of two DMRS sequences; and for a frequency band of 6 GHz orhigher, 8 bits of information may be carried by an attribute of a DMRS,for example, being commonly carried by preset 128 DMRS sequences andmapping orders of two DMRS sequences.

Timing information includes: a 10 bits of SFN, half frame timing, and a6 bits of SS block index. Indication is given by using the followingmanners:

7 high bits of the SFN are used to be explicitly carried in PBCHinformation bits.

As shown in FIG. 26 f , two PBCH DMRS mapping orders (Order 0, Order 1)as shown in FIG. 26 b are defined, which are used to indicate 40 mstiming, that is, first and second 40 ms in 80 ms PBCH TTI aredistinguished (corresponding to the 8th bit of the SFN). That is, Order0 corresponds to a first 40 ms in the PBCH TTI, and Order 1 correspondsto a second 40 ms in the PBCH TTI.

For a frequency band below 6 GHz, each SS burst set contains up to 8 SSblocks, and then contains up to 8 SS burst sets in 40 ms (correspondingto the case of a 5 ms of period), and therefore there are up to 64 SSblocks in 40 ms. 64 sequences (sequence 0 to sequence 63) included in aDMRS are in one-to-one correspondence with 64 SS blocks in 40 ms. Whenthe period is greater than 5 ms, only a part of DMRS sequences will beused. For example, for a 20 ms period, only two SS burst sets areincluded in 20 ms, only 16 DMRS sequences are needed, and serial numbersare {sequence 0 to sequence 7, sequence 32 to 39}. Other periods includesequence indexes of the corresponding serial numbers, that is, acorrespondence relationship between a sequence and a time domainlocation is ensured to be uniform under different periods.

For a frequency band above 6 GHz, each SS burst set contains up to 64 SSblocks, and up to 8 SS burst sets are contained in 40 ms. 128 sequencesincluded in a DMRS are not sufficient to be divided into two groups{sequence 0 to sequence 63} and {sequence 64 to sequence 127} forindicating 20 ms timing, that is, using a sequence group {sequence 0 tosequence 63} for a first 20 ms within each 40 ms, each sequencecorresponding to an SS block index within an SS burst set; and using asequence group {sequence 64 to sequence 127} for a second 20 ms withineach 40 ms, each sequence corresponding to an SS block index within anSS burst set (burst set).

Different 5 ms within 40 ms are carried by an attribute of a PBCH, forexample, defining eight different scrambling bits of PBCH coded bits tocorrespond to different 5 ms within 40 ms respectively. Alternatively, 3bits of timing information is carried in a payload of the PBCH forindicating locations of eight different 5 ms.

In this case, for a frequency band below 6 GHz, bits for indicatingtiming information may not be introduced in the PBCH information bits,and a terminal determines the number of PBCH information bits accordingto a frequency band range to which an access frequency point belongs. Itis also possible to consider to preserve the three bits at the lowfrequency from the perspective of uniform design, and configure themwith the same value (for example, 000, these three bits have noreal-time meaning), or three bits corresponding to the low frequency areused to indicate other information, thus maintaining the number of PBCHinformation bits in high and low frequencies to be the same.

Embodiment Twenty-Two

In this embodiment, another indication method of complete timinginformation is described.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that for a frequency band below 6 GHz,5 bits of information may be carried by an attribute of a DMRS, forexample, being commonly carried by preset 16 DMRS sequences and mappingorders of two DMRS sequences; and for a frequency band of 6 GHz orhigher, 8 bits of information may be carried by an attribute of a DMRS,for example, being commonly carried by preset 128 DMRS sequences andmapping orders of two DMRS sequences.

Timing information includes: a 10 bits of SFN, half frame timing, and a6 bits of SS block index. Indication is given by using the followingmanners:

7 high bits of the SFN are used to be explicitly carried in PBCHinformation bits.

As shown in FIG. 26 g , four PBCH RVs are defined for indicating 20 mstiming (corresponding to the 8th and 9th bits of the SFN), that is, RV 0corresponds to a first 20 ms in the PBCH TTI, RV 1 corresponds to asecond 20 ms in the PBCH TTI, RV 2 corresponds to a third 20 ms in thePBCH TTI, and RV 3 corresponds to a fourth 20 ms in the PBCH TTI. Radioframe timing, that is, first and second 10 ms within each 20 ms, isindicated by a mapping order of a PBCH. That is, Order 0 corresponds toa first 10 ms within 20 ms, and Order 1 corresponds to a second 10 mswithin 20 ms.

In other embodiments, for half frame timing, that is, first and second 5ms within 10 ms, a sequence is divided into two groups, and a sequencein each sequence group (SG) indicates first and second half frame; for afrequency band below 6 GHz, each SG contains 8 sequences; and for afrequency band above 6 GHz, each SG contains 64 sequences; that is, SG 0corresponds to a first 5 ms in each radio frame, and SG 1 corresponds toa second 5 ms in each radio frame.

Similarly, it is necessary to ensure that a combination of RV\Order\CRCuniquely corresponds to a time domain location to avoid terminal timingambiguity problems. That is, for a 5 ms of period, differentcombinations of RV\Order\ SG will be used; and for a larger period, somecombinations will not be used. For example, in a 40 ms of period, onlytwo combinations such as RV 0\Order 0\SG 0 and RV 2\Order 0\SG 0 areapplied.

In other embodiments, for a frequency band below 6 GHz, eight sequencesare sufficient to indicate 8 SS block indexes in an SS block set.Therefore, for a frequency band below 3 GHz, an SS burst set contains upto four SS blocks, and four different DMRS sequences are defined to bein one-to-one correspondence with the four SS blocks; for a frequencyband of 3 GHz to 6 GHz, an SS burst set contains up to eight SS blocks,and a correspondence relationship between eight different DMRS sequencesand eight SS blocks are preset, and the corresponding DMRS sequences aremapped in a specified mapping order (mapping order) in a specified SSblock; and for a frequency band above 6 GHz, 64 sequences are used toindicate 64 SS block indexes, and a correspondence relationship between64 different DMRS sequences and 64 SS blocks are preset, and thecorresponding DMRS sequences are mapped in a specified mapping order ina specified SS block.

Alternatively, instead of grouping the PBCH DMRS sequences, differentPBCH DMRS sequences may indicate SS block indexes within a radio framerange. That is, for a frequency band below 6 GHz, 16 different PBCH DMRSsequences correspond to 16 SS blocks respectively in a radio frame (upto two SS burst sets, each SS burst set contains at most eight SSblocks). For a frequency band above 6 GHz, 128 different PBCH DMRSsequences correspond to 128 SS blocks in a radio frame respectively(containing up to two SS burst sets, each of which contains up to 64 SSblocks).

Embodiment Twenty-Three

In this embodiment, a mapping manner of a PBCH coded bit is described.

Since a synchronization signal and a PBCH use the same antenna port, thesynchronization signal may be used for channel estimation of the PBCH ofthe corresponding bandwidth, and for the PBCH bandwidth outside thesynchronization signal, according to the manner described in theforegoing embodiments of the present invention, since a PBCH DMRSsequence needs to indicate timing information, a terminal needs toperform blind check on a DMRS sequence, or a mapping order, or anorthogonal sequence, which will take a certain amount of time. As shownin FIG. 27 , a PBCH coded bit is mapped in an order indicated by arrowsshown in FIG. 27 , that is, first mapping the coded bit to a resourcecorresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidth; and then mappingthe coded bit to a resource outside a synchronization signal bandwidth.This allows the terminal to start decoding the PBCH coded bit of thepart corresponding to the synchronization signal bandwidth aftersuccessfully detecting the synchronization signal, and proceed to decodethe PBCH coded bit outside the synchronization signal bandwidth aftersuccessfully identifying a PBCH DMRS and using the DMRS to completechannel estimation.

On information content, the corresponding resources in thesynchronization signal bandwidth may include complete PBCH coded bit,and the PBCH coded bit is repeatedly transmitted on a PBCH resourceoutside the synchronization signal bandwidth. In this case, the terminalunder the condition of high SNR can complete reception of the PBCH bydecoding only the PBCH in a part corresponding to the synchronizationsignal bandwidth. In condition that the decoding cannot be successfullyperformed, the two parts of the PBCH coded bits inside and outside thesynchronization signal bandwidth may be combined and decoded. The twoparts of the PBCH coded bits may not be simply repeated, but usedifferent redundancy versions to support the terminal to performincremental redundancy (IR) combinations on the two parts of the PBCHcoded bits.

It is also possible not to repeat transmission, that is, a resourcecorresponding to a bandwidth of a synchronization signal merely includesa part of the PBCH coded bit, and the complete PBCH coded bit isincluded on all the PBCH resources.

In addition, in condition that the same PBCH coded bit is transmitted ontwo symbols, the same PBCH information of the two parts may be used forfrequency offset estimation. Therefore, the PBCH may be encodedaccording to a resource in a bandwidth corresponding to a bandwidth ofthe synchronization signal of a single PBCH symbol, and repeatedlytransmitted on the corresponding bandwidth of a synchronization signalof another PBCH symbol, that is, within the corresponding bandwidth ofthe synchronization signal of a certain PBCH symbol, complete PBCH codedbit information is included. A terminal under the condition of a highSNR can complete reception of a PBCH by decoding a received signal inthe corresponding bandwidth of a synchronization signal of a certainPBCH symbol. At the same time, two repeated PBCH coded bits will enablefrequency offset estimation. For a PBCH resource outside thesynchronization signal bandwidth, transmission of the PBCH coded bit maybe repeated twice at an approximate code rate, or the PBCH coded bit maybe repeatedly transmitted at a lower code rate.

Embodiment Twenty-Four

In this embodiment, a mapping manner of a PBCH is described. Since asynchronization signal and a PBCH use the same antenna port, thesynchronization signal may be used for channel estimation of the PBCH ofthe corresponding bandwidth, and for a PBCH bandwidth outside thesynchronization signal, according to the manner described in Embodiments3-9 of the present invention, since a PBCH DMRS sequence needs toindicate timing information, a terminal needs to perform blind check ona DMRS sequence, or a mapping order, or an OCC, which will take acertain amount of time. In addition, the preceding PBCH symbols allowfor earlier decoding.

As shown in FIG. 28 , the PBCH coded bit is mapped in an order indicatedby arrows in FIG. 28 , that is, a part corresponding to asynchronization signal bandwidth of a PBCH symbol of which a time domainlocation is placed at the front→a part outside a synchronization signalbandwidth of a PBCH symbol of which a time domain location is placed atthe front→a part corresponding to a synchronous signal bandwidth of aPBCH symbol of which a time domain location is placed at the back→a partoutside a synchronization signal bandwidth of a PBCH symbol of which atime domain location is placed at the back.

A resource of a part corresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidthis mapped first, and then a resource of a part outside thesynchronization signal bandwidth is mapped. This allows a terminal tostart decoding a PBCH coded bit of the part corresponding to thesynchronization signal bandwidth after successfully detecting thesynchronization signal, and proceed to decode a PBCH coded bit outsidethe synchronization signal bandwidth after successfully identifying aPBCH DMRS and using the DMRS to complete channel estimation.

On information content, each PBCH symbol may include a complete PBCHcoded bit, and the PBCH coded bit is repeatedly transmitted on anotherPBCH symbol. In this case, a terminal under the condition of a high SNRcan complete reception of a PBCH by only decoding a PBCH in a partcorresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidth. In condition thatthe decoding cannot be successfully performed, the two parts of the PBCHcoded bits inside and outside the synchronization signal bandwidth maybe combined and decoded. The two parts of the PBCH coded bits may not besimply repeated, but use different redundancy versions to support theterminal to perform incremental redundancy (IR) combinations on the twoparts of the PBCH coded bits.

Alternatively, the resource corresponding to the synchronization signalbandwidth may include a complete PBCH coded bit, and the PBCH coded bitis repeatedly transmitted on a PBCH resource outside the synchronizationsignal bandwidth. In this case, a terminal under the condition of a highSNR can decode the PBCH by only decoding the PBCH corresponding to thesynchronization signal bandwidth. If the decoding cannot be successfullyperformed, the two parts of the PBCH coded bits inside and outside thesynchronization signal bandwidth may be combined and decoded. The twoparts of the PBCH coded bits may not be simply repeated, but usedifferent redundancy versions to support the terminal to performincremental redundancy combinations on the two parts of the PBCH codedbits.

It is also possible not to repeat transmission, that is, a resourcecorresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidth only include a partof PBCH coded bit, and the complete PBCH coded bits is included on allthe PBCH resources.

In addition, in condition that the same PBCH coded bit is transmitted ontwo symbols, the same PBCH information of the two parts may be used forfrequency offset estimation. Therefore, a PBCH may be encoded accordingto a resource corresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidth of asingle PBCH symbol, and repeatedly transmitted on the correspondingbandwidth of a synchronization signal of another PBCH symbol, that is,within a bandwidth corresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidthof a certain PBCH symbol, complete PBCH coded bit information isincluded. A terminal under the condition of a high SNR can completereception of a PBCH by decoding a received signal in the correspondingbandwidth of a synchronization signal of a certain PBCH symbol. At thesame time, two repeated PBCH coded bits will enable frequency offsetestimation. For a PBCH resource outside a synchronization signalbandwidth, transmission of the PBCH coded bit may be repeated twice atan approximate code rate, or the PBCH coded bit may be repeatedlytransmitted at a lower code rate.

In the present application, technical features in the variousembodiments may be used in combination in one embodiment withoutconflict. Each embodiment is merely an optimal embodiment of the presentapplication.

In summary, the present solution provides a method for indicating timinginformation by using a PBCH DMRS sequence, a mapping order, an OCC, andany combination. Therefore, when complete SS block index information isindicated by using a sequence, decoding of a PBCH in a terminalmeasurement and reporting process can be avoided; if it is finallydetermined that the terminal still needs to obtain the index by decodingthe PBCH, complexity of the blind detection of the PBCH is alsominimized to the greatest extent, and part of the information isconsidered to be obtained before the PBCH is checked, that is, the partof information is indicated by the sequence. In addition, the methoddescribed in the application effectively reduces capacity requirementfor a single indication manner.

In addition, the present invention also provides a manner of mapping acoded bit of a PBCH, which could decode the PBCH more quickly, andsupports reception of the PBCH by a terminal with small bandwidthcapability very well.

From the description of the embodiment of the invention, those skilledin the art would clearly understand that the invention can be achievedby software together with the necessary general-purpose hardwareaccording to the methods in the above embodiments, and certainly canalso be achieved only by hardware, but the former would be preferred.Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the presentinvention naturally or the portion by which the invention contributes tothe prior art can be implemented in the form of software products, andthe software products can be stored in storage media (such as anROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc) containing severalinstructions capable of enabling a computer device (which may be apersonal computer, a server or a network device, etc.) to execute themethods described in each of the embodiments of the present invention.

The embodiment further provides an apparatus for transmitting timinginformation, and the apparatus is configured to implement the foregoingembodiment and preferable implementation manners, and what has beenillustrated will not repeated redundantly. As used hereinafter, the term“module” may implement a combination of software and/or hardware with apredetermined function. Although the apparatus described in thefollowing embodiment is preferably implemented by software, theimplementation of hardware or a combination of software and hardware isalso possible and conceivable.

FIG. 29 is a structural block diagram of an apparatus for transmittingtiming information according to an embodiment of the present invention.As shown in FIG. 29 , the apparatus includes: a carrying module 2902 anda transmitting module 2904. Where:

the carrying module 2902 is configured to carry timing information byusing a DMRS, where the timing information is used to indicate aterminal to determine a time domain location; and the transmittingmodule 2904 is connected to the carrying module 2902, and configured totransmit the DMRS carrying the timing information to the terminal.

In other embodiments, the timing information includes at least: a serialnumber of a synchronization signal burst set; a serial number of asynchronization signal burst in a synchronization signal burst set; aserial number of a slot in a synchronization signal burst; a serialnumber of an SS block in a slot; a serial number of an SS block in asynchronization signal burst set; a serial number of an SS block in asynchronization signal burst; a serial number of a slot in asynchronization signal burst set; a synchronization signal block index;N least significant bits of a synchronization signal block index, whereN is a positive integer; M most significant bits of a synchronizationsignal block index, where M is a positive integer; X middle significantbits of a synchronization signal block index, where X is a positiveinteger; part or all of information of a system frame number (SFN);radio frame timing information; or half frame timing information.

In other embodiments, the carrying module 2902 carries the timinginformation by using the DMRS in the following manners: carrying thetiming information by using at least one of the following attributes ofthe DMRS: a DMRS sequence; a mapping resource of the DMRS sequence; oran orthogonal sequence used by the DMRS sequence.

In other embodiments, the DMRS sequence includes one of: DMRS sequencescommonly mapped to two PBCH symbols; and DMRS sequences respectivelymapped to two PBCH symbols.

In other embodiments, the carrying module 2902 carries the timinginformation by using the DMRS in one of the following manners:presetting a plurality of the DMRS sequences and a correspondencerelationship between the respective DMRS sequences and values of thetiming information, and carrying the timing information by using DMRSsequences commonly mapped to two PBCH symbols; or DMRS sequences mappedto two PBCH symbols forming a DMRS sequence combination, presetting aplurality of DMRS sequence combinations and a correspondencerelationship between the respective DMRS sequence combinations andvalues of the timing information, and carrying the timing information byusing the DMRS sequence combination mapped to the two PBCH symbolsrespectively.

In other embodiments, the apparatus carries the timing information byusing the mapping order of the DMRS sequence in one of the followingmanners: presetting a plurality of mapping orders and a correspondencerelationship between different mapping orders and different values ofthe timing information, and carrying the timing information by using themapping orders, where the mapping orders refer to orders of mapping DMRSsequences to DMRS time domain resources and/or frequency domainresources on two PBCH symbols; or presetting a plurality of mappingorder combinations and a correspondence relationship between differentmapping order combinations and values of the timing information, andcarrying the timing information by using the mapping order combinations,where the mapping order combinations refer to combinations of orders ofmapping DMRS sequences to DMRS time domain resources and/or frequencydomain resources on two PBCH symbols respectively.

In other embodiments, the apparatus uses the orthogonal sequence used bythe DMRS sequence to carry the timing information in one of thefollowing manners: presetting a plurality of orthogonal sequences havinglengths correspond to PBCH symbol numbers, where different orthogonalsequences represent different values of the timing information; andmapping the processed DMRS sequences to DMRS resources of the two PBCHsymbols respectively by using the preset orthogonal sequences, andcarrying the timing information by using the processed DMRS sequences.

In other embodiments, the preset orthogonal sequences include at leastone of: [1, 1]; and [1, −1].

In other embodiments, the apparatus processes the two DMRS sequences onthe two PBCH symbols by using the preset orthogonal sequences in one ofthe following manners: multiplying respective elements of a DMRSsequence on a first PBCH symbol by a first element of the orthogonalsequences, and mapping the multiplying results to DMRS resource elementsof the first PBCH symbol respectively; and multiplying respectiveelements of a DMRS sequence on a second PBCH symbol by a second elementof the orthogonal sequences, and mapping the multiplying results to DMRSresource elements of the second PBCH symbol respectively; or multiplyingrespective elements of a DMRS sequence on a first PBCH symbol by a firstelement of a first orthogonal sequence to obtain a first sequence,multiplying respective elements of a DMRS sequence on a second PBCHsymbol by a second element of the first orthogonal sequence to obtain asecond sequence, and adding corresponding elements of the first sequenceand the second sequence respectively, and mapping the adding results toDMRS resource elements of the first PBCH symbol respectively; andmultiplying respective elements of a DMRS sequence on a second PBCHsymbol by a first element of a second orthogonal sequence to obtain athird sequence, multiplying respective elements of a DMRS sequence on asecond PBCH symbol by a second element of the second orthogonal sequenceto obtain a fourth sequence, adding corresponding elements of the firstsequence and the second sequence respectively, and mapping the addingresults to DMRS resource elements of the second PBCH symbolrespectively.

In other embodiments, the apparatus further includes a processing moduleconfigured to carry the timing information by using an attribute of theDMRS and an attribute of the PBCH.

In other embodiments, the attribute of the PBCH includes at least oneof: bit information carried by the PBCH; a cyclic shift of a coded bitof the PBCH; a scrambling code of the PBCH; and a cyclic redundancycheck mask of the PBCH.

In other embodiments, the mapping resource of the DMRS sequence includesat least: a part of resource elements (REs) in a frequency band outsidea synchronization signal in a PBCH symbol to which the DMRS sequence ismapped; a part of REs in a PBCH bandwidth in a PBCH symbol to which theDMRS sequence is mapped; or in a part of PBCH symbols, a part ofresource elements (REs) in a frequency band outside a synchronizationsignal to which the DMRS sequence is mapped; and in remaining PBCHsymbols, a part of REs in a PBCH bandwidth to which the DMRS sequence ismapped.

FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a determining apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 30, the apparatus includes: a receiving module 3002 and a firstdetermining module 3004. Where:

the receiving module 3002 is configured to receive a DMRS transmitted bya base station; and the first determining module 3004 is connected tothe receiving module 3002, and configured to determine timinginformation carried in the DMRS, where the timing information is used toindicate a terminal to determine a time domain location.

In other embodiments, the timing information includes at least: a serialnumber of a synchronization signal burst set; a serial number of asynchronization signal burst in a synchronization signal burst set; aserial number of a slot in a synchronization signal burst; a serialnumber of an SS block in a slot; a serial number of an SS block in asynchronization signal burst set; a serial number of an SS block in asynchronization signal burst; a serial number of a slot in asynchronization signal burst set; a synchronization signal block index;N least significant bits of a synchronization signal block index, whereN is a positive integer; M most significant bits of a synchronizationsignal block index, where M is a positive integer; X middle significantbits of a synchronization signal block index, where X is a positiveinteger; part or all of information of a system frame number (SFN);radio frame timing information; or half frame timing information.

In other embodiments, the first determining module 3004 includes: adetermining unit, configured to extract the timing information by usingat least one of the following attributes of the identified DMRS: a DMRSsequence; a mapping resource of the DMRS sequence; or an orthogonalsequence used by the DMRS sequence.

In other embodiments, the DMRS sequence includes one of: DMRS sequencescommonly mapped to two PBCH symbols; and DMRS sequences respectivelymapped to two PBCH symbols.

In other embodiments, the first determining module 3004 determines thetiming information by using the DMRS sequence in one of the followingmanners: determining the timing information by using DMRS sequencescommonly mapped to the two PBCH symbols and a correspondencerelationship between preset DMRS sequences and values of the timinginformation; or determining the timing information by using DMRSsequences commonly mapped to two PBCH symbols respectively and acorrespondence relationship between preset DMRS sequence combinationsand values of the timing information.

In other embodiments, the apparatus determines the timing information byusing the mapping order of the DMRS sequence in one of the followingmanners: determining the timing information by using mapping orders ofDMRS sequences commonly mapped to two PBCH symbols and a correspondencerelationship between preset mapping orders of DMRS sequences and valuesof the timing information; or determining the timing information byusing mapping orders of DMRS sequences independently mapped to two PBCHsymbols respectively and a correspondence relationship between presetmapping order combinations of DMRS sequences on respective PBCH symbolsand values of the timing information.

In other embodiments, the apparatus determines the timing informationaccording to the orthogonal sequence used by the DMRS sequence in one ofthe following manners:

determining the timing information by using orthogonal sequences used byDMRS sequences mapped to two PBCH symbols and a correspondencerelationship between preset orthogonal sequences and values of thetiming information.

In other embodiments, the preset orthogonal sequences include at leastone of: [1, 1]; and [1, −1].

FIG. 31 is a structural block diagram of an apparatus for mapping acoded bit of a PBCH according to an embodiment of the present invention.As shown in FIG. 31 , the apparatus includes: a second determiningmodule 3102 and a mapping module 3104. Where the second determiningmodule 3102 is configured to determine a coded bit of the PBCH; and themapping module 3104 is connected to the second determining module 3102,and configured to map a coded bit of the PBCH to a resource of the PBCHin a predetermined order.

In other embodiments, the mapping module 3104 includes: a first mappingunit, which is configured to map the coded bit of the PBCH to theresource of the PBCH corresponding to a synchronization signalbandwidth; and a second mapping unit, which is configured to map thecoded bit of the PBCH to the resource of the PBCH outside asynchronization signal bandwidth.

In other embodiments, the mapping module 3104 includes: a third mappingunit, which is configured to map the coded bit of the PBCH to theresource of the PBCH corresponding to a synchronization signal bandwidthof which a time domain location satisfies a first predeterminedcondition; a fourth mapping unit, which is configured to map the codedbit of the PBCH to the resource of the PBCH outside a synchronizationsignal bandwidth of which a time domain location satisfies a firstpredetermined condition; a fifth mapping unit, which is configured tomap the coded bit of the PBCH to the resource of the PBCH correspondingto a synchronization signal bandwidth of which a time domain locationsatisfies a second predetermined condition; and a sixth mapping unit,which is configured to map the coded bit of the PBCH to the resource ofthe PBCH outside a synchronization signal bandwidth of which a timedomain location satisfies a second predetermined condition.

It should be noted that, each of the foregoing modules may beimplemented by software or hardware; for the latter, it may beimplemented in the following manner, but is not limited hereto: theforegoing modules are located in a same processor; or each of theforegoing modules is respectively located in different processors in anycombination.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a storagemedium, comprising a storage program, wherein the program performs themethod of any one of claims 1 to 14 during running.

In other embodiments, the storage medium described above may beconfigured to store a program code for performing each of the abovesteps.

In other embodiments, the foregoing storage medium may include, but itis not limited to: any medium that can store program codes, such as aUSB flash drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM),a removable hard disk, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a processorconfigured to run a program, where the step according to any one of theforegoing methods are executed during running.

The specific example in the present embodiment may refer to the exampledescribed in the foregoing embodiment and optional implementationmanner, and it will not be described herein.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the foregoingeach module or each step of the present invention may be implemented byuniversal computing devices, and they may be centralized on a singlecomputing device or distributed over a network consisting of a pluralityof computing devices; optionally, they may be implemented by executableprogram codes of a computing device, and thus they can be stored in astorage device for execution by the computing device; and in some cases,the illustrated or described steps may be executed in an order differentfrom the one herein, or they are respectively fabricated into individualintegrated circuit modules, or a plurality of modules or steps thereofare implemented by being fabricated into a single integrated circuitmodule. As such, the present invention is not limited to any specificcombination of hardware and software.

It should be understood that “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”mentioned in the whole specification means that particular features,structures, or characteristics related to the embodiment are included inat least one embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment” appearing throughout thisspecification may be not necessarily a same embodiment. In addition,these particular features, structures, or characteristics may becombined in one or more embodiments in any appropriate manner. It shouldbe understood that sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do notmean execution sequences in various embodiments of the presentinvention. The execution sequences of the processes should be determinedbased on functions and internal logic of the processes, and should notbe construed as any limitation on the implementation processes of theembodiments of the present invention. The sequence numbers of the aboveembodiments of the present invention are only used for descriptioninstead of representing preference of the embodiments.

It is to be noted that the term “comprise”, “contain” or any otheralterations intend to cover non-exclusive containing, so that theprocess, method, article or device comprising a series of elements notonly comprises those elements, but also comprises other elements whichare not definitely listed, or also comprises inherent elements for theprocess, method, article or device. Unless defined otherwise, theelements defined by the term “comprise a . . . ” would not exclude thepresence of other identical elements in the process, method, object orequipment including the stated elements.

The units described as separate parts may be or may not be separatedphysically, and a component displayed as a unit may be or may not be aphysical unit, namely, may be located in one place, or may bedistributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the unitsmay be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of thesolution of the embodiment.

In addition, in various embodiments of the present invention, thefunctional units may be integrated in one processing unit, or thefunctional units may separately and physically exist, or two or moreunits may be integrated in one unit. The above integrated unit can beimplemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plussoftware functional units.

Those of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or a part ofthe steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments may be performedwith a program instruction related hardware, the foregoing program maybe stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when beingexecuted, the program may execute the steps included in theabove-mentioned method embodiments; and the foregoing storage mediumincludes a variety of media capable of storing program codes, such as aportable storage device, a read only memory (Read Only Memory, ROM forshort), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

The foregoing description is only the specific implementation method ofthe present invention, rather than the limits of the protection scope ofthe present invention, any change or alteration that can be readilythought of by those skilled in the art within the disclosed technicalscope of the present invention falls into the protection scope of thepresent invention. Accordingly, the protection scope of the claimsshould prevail over the protection scope of the present invention.

We claim:
 1. A method for transmitting timing information, comprising:carrying timing information by using a demodulation reference signal(DMRS); and transmitting the DMRS carrying the timing information to theterminal, wherein the timing information comprises N least significantbits of the synchronization signal block index, where N is a positiveinteger; wherein the carrying the timing information by using the DMRScomprises: carrying the timing information by using a DMRS sequence ofthe DMRS, wherein the DRMS sequence is mapped to a resource comprisingin a part of physical broadcast channel (PBCH) symbols, a part ofresource elements (REs) in a frequency band outside a synchronizationsignal to which the DMRS sequence is mapped; and in remaining PBCHsymbols, a part of REs in a PBCH bandwidth to which the DMRS sequence ismapped.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the carrying thetiming information by using the DMRS comprises: when a number ofcandidate synchronization signal blocks is 4, defining four differentDMRS sequences to be in one-to-one correspondence with foursynchronization signal blocks; and when a number of candidatesynchronization signal blocks is 8, defining eight different DMRSsequences to be in one-to-one correspondence with eight synchronizationsignal blocks.
 3. The method according to claim 1, comprising: carryingthe timing information by using the DMRS sequence and bit informationcarried by a PBCH.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein thecarrying the timing information by using the DMRS sequence and the bitinformation carried by the PBCH comprises: when a number of candidatesynchronization signal blocks is 64, defining eight different DMRSsequences for indicating three least significant bits of asynchronization signal block index; and introducing three bits ofexplicit information in PBCH information bits for indicating three mostsignificant bits of a synchronization signal block index.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the DMRS carries the timing information bydividing all defined DMRS sequences into two sequence groups, wherein asequence group to which the DMRS sequence belongs being used to indicatefirst and second half frames in a radio frame.
 6. A processor configuredto perform the method of claim 1 during running.
 7. A method fordetermining timing information, comprising: receiving a demodulationreference signal (DMRS) transmitted by a base station; and determiningtiming information carried in the DMRS, wherein the timing informationcomprises: N least significant bits of the synchronization signal blockindex, where N is a positive integer; and wherein the determining thetiming information carried in the DMRS comprises: determining the timinginformation by using a DMRS sequence of the identified DMRS, wherein theDRMS sequence is mapped to a resource comprising in a part of physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) symbols, a part of resource elements (REs) in afrequency band outside a synchronization signal to which the DMRSsequence is mapped; and in remaining PBCH symbols, a part of REs in aPBCH bandwidth to which the DMRS sequence is mapped.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein determining the time information by usingthe DMRS sequence of the identified DMRS comprises: when a number ofcandidate synchronization signal blocks is 4, determining the timeinformation by using four different DMRS sequences being in one-to-onecorrespondence with four synchronization signal blocks; and when anumber of candidate synchronization signal blocks is 8, determining thetime information by using eight different DMRS sequences being inone-to-one correspondence with eight synchronization signal blocks. 9.The method according to claim 7, comprising: determining the timeinformation by using the DMRS sequence and bit information carried by aPBCH.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the determining thetime information by using the DMRS sequence and bit information carriedby the PBCH comprises: when a number of candidate synchronization signalblocks is 64, determining three least significant bits of asynchronization signal block index by using eight defined different DMRSsequences; and determining three most significant bits of asynchronization signal block index by three bits of explicit informationintroduced in PBCH information bits.
 11. An apparatus for transmittingtiming information, comprising at least one processor configured to:carry timing information by using a demodulation reference signal(DMRS); and transmit the DMRS carrying the timing information to theterminal, wherein the timing information comprises N least significantbits of the synchronization signal block index, where N is a positiveinteger; and wherein the at least one processor is further configured tocarry the timing information by using a DMRS sequence of the DMRS,wherein the DRMS sequence is mapped to a resource comprising in a partof physical broadcast channel (PBCH) symbols, a part of resourceelements (REs) in a frequency band outside a synchronization signal towhich the DMRS sequence is mapped; and in remaining PBCH symbols, a partof REs in a PBCH bandwidth to which the DMRS sequence is mapped.
 12. Theapparatus according to claim 11, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to carry the timing information by using the DMRS by: when anumber of candidate synchronization signal blocks is 4, defining fourdifferent DMRS sequences to be in one-to-one correspondence with foursynchronization signal blocks; and in condition that a number ofcandidate synchronization signal blocks is 8, defining eight differentDMRS sequences to be in one-to-one correspondence with eightsynchronization signal blocks.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 11,wherein the at least one processor is configured to: carry the timinginformation by using the DMRS sequence and bit information carried byPBCH.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to carry the timing information by using theDMRS sequence and the bit information carried by the PBCH by: when anumber of candidate synchronization signal blocks is 64, defining eightdifferent DMRS sequences for indicating three least significant bits ofa synchronization signal block index; and introducing three bits ofexplicit information in PBCH information bits for indicating three mostsignificant bits of a synchronization signal block index.
 15. Theapparatus according to claim 11, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to carry the timing information by using the DMRS by:dividing all defined DMRS sequences into two sequence groups, wherein asequence group to which the DMRS sequence belongs being used to indicatefirst and second half frames in a radio frame.
 16. An apparatus fordetermining timing information, comprising at least one processorconfigured to: receive a demodulation reference signal (DMRS)transmitted by a base station; and determine timing information carriedin the DMRS, wherein the timing information comprises: N leastsignificant bits of the synchronization signal block index, where N is apositive integer; and wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: determine the timing information by using a DMRS sequenceof the identified DMRS, wherein the DRMS sequence is mapped to aresource comprising in a part of physical broadcast channel (PBCH)symbols, a part of resource elements (REs) in a frequency band outside asynchronization signal to which the DMRS sequence is mapped; and inremaining PBCH symbols, a part of REs in a PBCH bandwidth to which theDMRS sequence is mapped.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 16,wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the timeinformation by using the DMRS sequence and bit information carried by aPBCH.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to determine the time information by using theDMRS sequence and the bit information carried by the PBCH by: when anumber of candidate synchronization signal blocks is 64, determiningthree least significant bits of a synchronization signal block index byusing eight defined different DMRS sequences; and determining three mostsignificant bits of a synchronization signal block index by three bitsof explicit information introduced in PBCH information bits.